Mary Hopkin's Beatles poster sells for £28k at auction

A rare Beatles poster owned by singer Mary Hopkin has been sold at auction for £28,000.

The band's 1963 gig advert was expected to fetch between £400 to £800 as part of a collection of Sixties memorabilia auctioned off by the artist.

Hopkin, 67, from Pontardawe, Swansea, was one of the first acts signed by The Beatles' Apple Records label.

The singer, who had a UK number one single Those Were The Days in 1968, is also selling off stage dresses.

The colour poster advertised the Fab Four's gig at The Pier Pavilion in Llandudno, Conwy county, in August 1963.

Later the same month the band went straight to number one with their second hit She Loves You, sparking the eruption of Beatlemania.

The poster was sold at the Antiques and Fine Art auction in Colwyn Bay.

Before the sale, auctioneer Ben Rogers Jones said: "My hope is that it will go to somebody local to the area who was at the gig, but there's sure to be huge interest from elsewhere as the market for Beatles memorabilia is colossal."

The company will next sell off a collection of Hopkin's dresses on 2 June in Cardiff.

This red minidress, worn regularly by Hopkin when she performed, will be sold off