Shaun the Sheep auction raises £195,400 for Newcastle hospice

Wor Shaun which had stood outside St James' Park attracted the highest bid of £11,000

Organisers have hailed people's "incredible" generosity after 40 Shaun the Sheep sculptures were auctioned off, making £195,400 for charity.

The hand-painted sheep had formed an art trail around the city's landmarks which ran from July.

The money raised from the auction will go to St Oswald's Hospice.

Wor Shaun, sponsored by Newcastle United, made the highest amount of £11,000, with bidding both online and in person described as "quite tense".

Painted by Dan Lycett from Toon fan group Wor Flags, Lot 35 was sold to the sounds of Local Hero and the waving of black and white flags and huge applause.

This year the auction had online bidders as well as ones in the room

A smaller sculpture created especially for the auction and again inspired by the Magpies called Toon Barmy was sold for £8,800.

Another to attract a bidding war was Lot 29, called Art is Mischief, which depicted Shaun poking his head through the Mona Lisa.

It went under the hammer for £10,000 after bids flew backwards and forwards between someone in the room and an online bidder.

A bidding war broke out for the Art is Mischief Shaun which sold for £10,000

St Oswald's chief executive Steph Edusei said: "The tension and excitement in the room was intense, as our in-person bidders went head to head with hundreds of Shaun fans who had registered to bid online.

"Seeing each sheep sell for such huge amounts, and the joy it brought people to buy them, was just incredible."

All the Shaun the Sheep models were sold

All the lots had a starting price of £1,000 and 37 large Shaun's and three smaller Shauns were all sold.

The charity hopes it will hold a future art trail, despite a number of the sculptures being vandalised during the summer months when six of the sculptures sustained serious damage.

Fundraising manager Nikki Maguire said the "positivity" of the event had outweighed the "needless" damage.

The Shaun The Sheep On the Tyne trail followed similar events, including the Great North Snowdogs trail in 2016 and Elmer's Great North Parade trail in 2019.

Over the weekend more than 4,000 people attended a goodbye event in Newcastle's Civic Centre, where all the models were displayed in one place.

The hospice is hopeful of organising another character art trail in the future