A cigar butt discarded by Sir Winston Churchill and picked up by a policeman has sold for more than £4,200 at auction.

The item, which was cast aside by the wartime leader who lived in Chartwell near Westerham, went under the hammer today causing quite a stir.

The 7cm-long butt was only expected to sell for £800.

The previous owner’s grandfather, Arthur Church, served as a policeman at Scotland Yard in the 1940s.

While he was on police duty escorting Churchill, the Prime Minister smoked a cigar and Mr Church picked up the discarded butt.

The item drew significant interest and sold to a UK private collector for a £3,500 hammer price, rising to £4,270 with buyer’s premium.

It was sold by Bellmans auctioneers, based in Wisborough Green, West Sussex.

The high price for the cigar butt shows the enduring taste at auctions for items once owned by Churchill.

In March, a pair of his luxury velvet slippers sold for nearly £40,000.

As well as this, in 2018 a half-smoked cigar butt which was stubbed out by Sir Winston Churchill was valued at around £700 by auctioneers.

It was found wrapped up in an old shoebox after being handed to police officer Bill Wood as a souvenir in the 1950s.

The officer was given it as a gift while he checked in at Churchill's Chartwell country home during his second stint as Prime Minister.

Read more: All the latest news from Sevenoaks