Baby grand piano used by the band Queen to be auctioned

Mike Peters of The Alarm bought the piano from Queen's Roger Taylor in the 1980s

A piano once owned by British rock band Queen is expected to fetch between £10,000 and £20,000 when it is sold at auction.

Wiltshire-based Gardiner Houlgate auctioneers are selling the instrument in December.

It is believed to have featured on Queen's 1984 album The Works, which includes the hit single Hammer To Fall.

The Kawai EP baby grand electric piano was also owned by rock band The Alarm.

Auctioneer and valuer Luke Hobbs said there had been a "big reaction" to the news it was coming up for sale.

Freddie Mercury is believed to have played the piano on tour in 1984

"The item has great provenance to start with, and items of this nature from bands such as Queen don't really come onto the market that often.

"The focal point of Queen is Freddie Mercury, sat at a piano. The only other Queen item that would be similarly significant is Bryan May's Red Special guitar," he said.

Mr Hobbs said it was difficult to make assumptions about the piano, as Queen used several, but it had been established it was removed from Roger Taylor's studio at the time of The Works, so it had almost certainly travelled with the band then.

It was sold to The Alarm in 1985 after the band's lead singer Mike Peters met Freddie Mercury at a music festival.

Auctioneer Luke Hobbs said the piano took four people to move it

Welsh rock band The Alarm used the piano on their tours in the late 1980s

The piano is "very heavy" said Mr Hobbs, requiring four people to lift and move it. It comes with a flight case, which it fits inside when folded up.

"It has seen better days, it's quite a tired-looking thing. But then it has been in storage since the late 1980s," he added.

"It was used at Wembley Stadium in 1986, not by Queen but by The Alarm, who supported them on that tour."

Mr Hobbs said very few bands, both now and back in the 1980s, could afford to take an instrument this large on tour.

"Nowadays, unless you're a huge stadium band, it's hard to have the resources to take this with you."