Brooms and glitter balls, coat hangers and beer mats - not things you would expect to be snapped up at a sale.

But this was the chance to buy a piece of Marlowe Theatre history, and many people jumped at the opportunity for different reasons.

As the theatre prepares for demolition and rebuilding, staff held a sale of items the Marlowe has acquired since its creation in 1984.

Friend of the Marlowe Ron Dolman bought a rugby ball.

The 75-year-old from Faversham said: “We came down here because we wanted to find some memorabilia and just out of curiousity.

“We’ve bought some mirrors, but I’ve no idea why this rugby ball came to be here, lost property perhaps.”

Particularly popular were the framed and signed photographs of the greats who have strutted the Marlowe stage.

But Mark Shelvin, from Knight Avenue, Canterbury, went for lightbulbs and sweets, explaining: “I thought I’d get something for the house.”

The theatre was selling off brooms, glitter balls, coat hangers, kettles, beer mats, drinking glasses. You could even buy signs directing you to the exits, rows A-J and the switchroom.

Lord Mayor Carolyn Parry, a former showgirl, bought some of the old theatre chairs so she can create a home cinema.

“There are hundreds of people who all want a little bit of history and want something to remember the theatre by,” she said. “This is a closing chapter in the Marlowe’s life.”