TWO rare banknotes produced in the 1800s when Huddersfield legally printed its own money were sold for a huge profit.

The notes fetched £1,673 at auction in London - more than THREE TIMES what they were expected to fetch.

The banknotes were bought by a collector living in Honley, who asked not to be named.

The man said: "I concentrate on Huddersfield banknotes.

"I believe that things like that ought to stay in Huddersfield. I have about 30 or 40 of them now."

Before the auction, at Spink, experts predicted that the valuable black and white one guinea notes would sell for a total of £500.

But there was so much interest in the mementoes of Huddersfield's banking history that the cautious pre-sale estimate was swiftly overtaken.

One note alone sold for £1035, while the other went for £638.