Star Wars fan with huge toy collection 'may move'

A Star Wars fan with 20,000 items of memorabilia says he will have to move house - as the latest sequel looks set to swell his collection further.

Jason Buxton, 46, has amassed his collection of action figures, costumes and other merchandise since he saw the original Star Wars film in 1978.

The hoard already fills the three-bedroom home he shares with his wife, two sons and dogs in Ixworth, Suffolk.

"I can't really fit much more in, so we're going to have to move," he said.

Mr Buxton said the release of The Force Awakens has seen his thirst for merchandise strike back, with a new range of tie-in products becoming available.

"The shops are full of the new range of toys, so it's paradise for me. You just walk in and buy loads of it," he said.

"The bigger the house, the more stuff I can have, so I'll buy a bigger house."

Jason Buxton says he has 120 figures from the original trilogy

His favourite item is his life-size R2D2, which he keeps in a downstairs room filled with memorabilia

Smaller collectables include R2D2 egg cups

The Force fanatic said his obsession has grown stronger as he got older, with much of his valuable collection made up of more recent purchases.

"As I got older and was able to afford the collectables it just got out of hand and has grown and grown - some are worth nothing and some are worth thousands," he said.

Jason's wife Maria Buxton - pictured here with the couple's dog - is also a Star Wars fanatic and dresses up for events

And here she is with another hairy creature - this time an Ewok

Mr Buxton has a stormtrooper costume which he wears to fan conventions

Mr Buxton saw the first film A New Hope at the long-gone Focus Cinema in Bury St Edmunds and planned on seeing The Force Awakens at its first midnight showing on Thursday.

The family regularly attend conventions and earlier this year went to Anaheim, California, for the Star Wars Celebration event where thousands of fans saw the premiere of the new movie's trailer.

"There were grown men crying and screaming," said Mr Buxton. "It was phenomenal."

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Maria Buxton, Jason's wife, said: "I enjoy the social side of the events we go to - who knows where it will take us next?

"If we can keep the collection in an annex in the new house, then it would be ideal because I can have my little space.

"But I do have my limits."

Mr and Mrs Buxton met footballer Paul Gascoigne at a convention

Soaps and other bathroom products are amongst his collection