Dome auction raises £3.4m

The auction of items from the Millennium Dome has raised nearly £3.5m.

The last-minute withdrawal from sale of more than 1,000 items hampered initial hopes that the auction, which ended last night, would raise about £5m.

The final total for the four-day sale was £3,483,000.

A spokeswoman for auctioneers Henry Butcher said: "We are thrilled with the final figures.

"It would have been more if the excluded lots had been included as they were quite expensive items.

"It was really good fun and loads of people attended. More than 5,000 people visited the auction and 24,000 logged on to the internet to view the catalogue."

She added that 1,200 people placed a bid online and that the average online spend was £1,900.

The most expensive item purchased was a projector which sold for £35,000. The cheapest piece of Dome memorabilia was a wall panel from the Mind zone which was snapped up for £5.