Del Boy's cocktail bar fetches £22k: Only Fools and Horses memorabilia snapped up at auction

In a scene reminiscent of the Trotter family becoming millionaires during the shock sale of a pocket watch - bidders on a unique piece of Only Fools and Horses memorabilia were themselves left stunned as it sold for 44 times the estimate at auction.

A megafan of the legendary BBC sitcom paid out a whopping £22,000 to secure Del Boy's tacky cocktail bar - a fixture in the council flat shared by Rodney, Del and Grandad in early series of the hit show.

The free-standing wraparound bar, decorated with cream-coloured padded vinyl on the outside, was home to a supply of cigars and often-illicitly-sourced spirits enjoyed by the daily and flat visitors. A pineapple ice bucket also took pride of place on the booze cabinet as it was sold, which was featured in most scenes throughout the long-running series.

The bar, measuring 107cm (42in) high and 106cm (41.7in) wide, was produced by Italian furniture makers Mascagni Mobili and was expected to fetch between £500 and £600 at auction - but smashed its estimate when it triggered a 200-people bidding war.

The final winning bid was £22,720 – 44 times more than the expected selling price – when it went under the hammer at Fielding's Auctioneers in Stourbridge on Thursday (September 25).

And director Will Farmer said he felt a bit of a plonker for his initial estimate, adding: “I’m going to be living the £500 to £600 estimate down for a few years to come. It is fair to say I feel a bit of a plonker about that.

“For me, we are of course thrilled. The vendor is thrilled. The buyer is thrilled and he's already paid for it and collecting it tomorrow. He’s dropping the kids off tomorrow and driving up from Oxford. He's absolutely off the scale delighted. He’s a brilliant guy the new owner. They’re absolutely thrilled. He saw it via the media and in his own words he said ‘I’m having that’.

“When it did £10,000, we were shocked. It kept going, and it only takes two people to dig their heels in. It’s an incredible result, the vendor can’t actually believe it. He's as shocked as anything."

Rachel Holland, music and entertainment specialist at Fieldings, said: “This is a rare and fascinating piece of 20th-century popular culture. By repute, the bar was used on the set of Only Fools and Horses.

“It was acquired by the current vendor’s father, himself a known actor and producer, on 19th January 1992. The piece was purchased directly from the sitcom’s prop coordinator following the studio’s relocation from London to Bristol.

“It was offered together with a handwritten receipt from the seller reading: ‘Bar used on set of Only Fools and Horses, Sold J. Williams 19.1.92, SP Haberfield. This bar is more than just a piece of furniture - it’s a slice of British television history."

Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC from 1981 to 1991, with 16 Christmas specials aired until the end of the show in 2003.