Guernsey resident pays £240k for 007 licence plate

This is the car driven by Sean Connery in Goldfinger which sold for £1.19m at auction in 2006. It is not the new number plate sold in Guernsey.

A licence plate with the code number of Ian Fleming's heroic spy, James Bond, has sold at auction for what is thought to be a record amount.

The Guernsey plate, 007, sold for £240,000, believed to be the most paid at a public auction in Guernsey.

The winning bidder of the number only plate wants to remain anonymous.

The sum falls short of the UK record of £518,000, but exceeded the expectation of auctioneers on the evening who estimated the value at £60,000.

It was a new issue States of Guernsey plate which feature white numerals on a black background.

One bidder, who withdrew at £200,000, dropped out as he was concerned there could be copyright problems from the producers of the James Bond film franchise, Eon Productions.

He did not want to be named but said: "I've got an Aston Martin and if I was seen to be promoting that reg, maybe renting it out for the day, over time I could make the cost back.

"When it got over £200,000 I realised there could be a risk that Eon Productions could come after me."

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James Bond has driven a number of cars, but the most famous is the silver grey Aston Martin DB5, first seen in Goldfinger.