Cheers at sale of Titanic cup found in Burton attic

The cup, found in an attic in Burton-upon-Trent, sold for £3,200

The owner of a cup produced for first class passengers of the infamous doomed ocean liner the Titanic has described cheering as it fetched thousands at auction.

The cup, marked "White Star Line", was found in the attic at a house in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire.

It went on sale with a guide price of £800 to £1,200, but sold for £3,200.

The seller, 61, a retired Rolls-Royce worker, said "we were cheering because the price kept going up and up".

But he nearly missed the outcome, he said, when a fire alarm went off at the location where he was trying to watch the sale online.

Charles Hanson of auction house Hansons Auctioneers said of the piece: "It was an example of a cup from a tableware range made for the Titanic more than 100 years ago."

The cup was not on the liner when it sank on its maiden voyage in April 1912 but ceramics bearing the same pattern number have been found on the wreck.

The cobalt blue and gilt-designed cup was made by Stoke-on-Trent pottery firm Spode and was among other pottery and glassware found by the vendor while clearing out his late parents' house.

"I lost my dad five years ago and my mum just before Christmas," he said following the 10 May auction. "The cup had been stuck in the attic for years.

"I have no idea how my dad came to own something that valuable."

The vendor initially found the item while clearing out his late parents' house

He said he thought the cup had been given to his dad, who was a grocer, as a gift, as he was always doing favours for his customers.

He added he had been "amazed" by the media interest over the auction, with the cup having been mentioned on ITV's Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.