Eric Clapton guitar sold for £25k at auction

A guitar once owned by musician Eric Clapton has fetched £25,000 at auction.

The instrument, a 1987 Guild D55NT, was owned by the rock star from 1978 to 1999, when he sold it at a charity auction in New York in aid of his drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre.

Auctioneer Luke Hobbs, of Gardiner Houlgate in Corsham, Wiltshire, said: "It was a fabulous sale that far exceeded our expectations."

The guitar's headstock had burns where Clapton would rest his lit cigarettes.

"We knew we'd get a lot of interest in the Clapton guitar, but nowhere near this level," said Mr Hobbs.

"The buyers in the room were gasping each time the price went up. It's one of the tensest sales I've been involved in."

Auctioneers said the guitar appeared to have the same strings as when Clapton owned it because they were tied off in the way used by his long-time guitar technician Lee Dickson.

Records supplied with the guitar stated that it was used by Clapton when composing and recording music.