IT MAY have taken only a few seconds to draw ...

But a tiny sketch by world-famous artist L S Lowry - created in a car on his way to lunch in Huddersfield - could fetch £2,000.

The simple work, called Mountain Road, is going under the hammer next week.

The picture, in pen on blue paper, will be auctioned at Christie's in London on Friday, November 19.

The auctioneers confirm the picture, which measures about 5in by 7in, is signed by Lowry and dated October 11, 1969.

It was given by the artist to the grandfather of the present owner after the lunch.

The names of the grandfather and the present owner of the picture are being kept under wraps.

Lowry, famous for his trademark matchstick men and cats and dogs, wrote on the picture "Sketched from my car/on Wood Road (Hulme Man side), 1969 Mountain Road."

Lowry used to visit Huddersfield often in the 1960s, when he was in his 70s.

He is known to have had a high regard for the town, and had a number of friends here.

Friends used to chauffeur him across the Pennines and he would lunch at the George Hotel, before afternoon visits to friends and business associates.

A waiter called Angelo would look after him at the George - but it's said that Lowry was disappointed that the hotel never seemed to serve his favourite dessert, rice pudding.

The current world record for a Lowry picture is £1,926,500.

This was paid by the Manchester-based Professional Footballers' Association at Sotheby's on December 1, 1999 for Lowry's 1953 masterpiece Going To The Match.

It was featured on the PFA's 2000 Christmas card.