'Forgotten' Beatles autographs from Nottingham gig sell for £5,600

The autographs are from all four members of the band - John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison

A diary from 1963 containing autographs from The Beatles has sold at auction for £5,600.

The diary belonged to Liz Webster, who collected the signatures after a gig in Nottingham when she barged her way into their dressing room.

It sat in her filing cabinet for 30 years before it was put up for sale and bought by someone in the United States.

"I hope whoever bought it enjoys it," said Ms Webster, aged 74, from Hampshire.

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The retired insurance clerk said the band gave her and friend Judy a "warm welcome" at the Elizabethan Ballroom in the Co-Op Building, in Nottingham, on 7 March 1963.

It was their first visit to the city and the band had to unload their own equipment from a van, she said.

Liz Webster said the band were "very welcoming" when she asked for their autographs

"They were just on a normal stage and there was no security around them," she said.

"Afterwards we went in the dressing room and I got all their autographs."

In her diary George Harrison wrote: "To Liz, Love from The Beatles", followed by autographs from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr and "love from John Lennon".

The Fab Four visited Nottingham three times in 1963 and "Beatlemania" was in full swing by the end of the year

"Please Please Me was in the charts but the ballroom was half-empty. There must have been about 100 people there," Ms Webster said.

"There were about a dozen girls hanging around outside their dressing room.

"Judy was the forceful one and she led the way as we barged our way through."

The diary containing the autographs was bought by a bidder from the US

Auctioneer Charles Hanson said the autographs had "tremendous provenance thanks to Liz's story".

"Thanks to a bit of bare-faced cheek, Liz was lucky enough to meet them just before they became international superstars," he said.

"It was a magical moment and one Liz will never forget - even if the autographs slipped to the back of her mind, and her filing cabinet."