A violin owned by Titanic’s heroic bandsman Wallace Hartley fetched £900,000 at auction today.

The Dewsbury-born bandsman reputedly played the violin on board the ill-fated Titanic.

It was expected to fetch around £300,000 when it was listed for sale at Henry Aldridge & Son auctioneers in Devizes.

And its sale beat all expectations this afternoon.

Around 200 people packed out the Henry Aldridge and Son sale room in the hope of capturing a piece of history.

There was tension in the room as principal auctioneer Alan Aldridge started the bidding at just £50 for the violin.

There were laughs from the audience but Mr Aldridge revealed that he was starting it that low so that two of his friends could bid.

Within a couple of minutes bidding had broken £100,000 had soon passed the world record of £220,000 as the competition between four telephone bidders hotted up.

There were gasps from the audience as the price reached £350,000 and then raced to £600,000. The room fell silent when bidding hit £750,000.

The violin eventually sold for £900,000 after fierce bidding between two telephone bidders. Selling the violin had taken just 10 minutes.

The slightly-battered violin was  owned and played by Wallace Hartley  – who lived firstly in  Huddersfield and later in Dewsbury.

Visitors to Dewsbury Town Hall saw the violin this week when it toured the country.

More than 600 people waited patiently to see the instrument and the leather case bearing Hartley’s initials.

Hartley, violinist and bandmaster on the Titanic, was member of Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra and a  local resident. He famously led the eight-member band as the ship sank on April 14, 1912.

The German violin was an engagement gift from his fiancée Maria.

Its re-emergence in 2006, when it was reportedly discovered in an attic in Yorkshire, prompted heated debate over its authenticity.

Titanic specialist auctioneers Henry Aldridge and Son insist nearly seven subsequent years of research and tests have proved it to be the genuine article.

The previous record for a single piece of memorabilia from the Titanic had stood at £220,000.