One of the region’s leading auction houses is reporting a successful end to 2014 with a dramatic increase in the size and scope of its sales and a number of record results achieved by individual items.

In each of the last three sales of its auction calendar, Addisons of Barnard Castle catalogued between 800 to 1,000 lots, representing a 50 per cent increase on the total number of sales in the preceding six months.

“We are delighted with this marked rise in the number of items that we are being asked to sell,” said William McNab, Auctioneer and Valuer at Addisons. “The figures also compare very favourably with the three corresponding sales of the previous year, which were again all around the 600 mark.”

The auction house puts this success down to its growing reputation for handling specialist items and the introduction of specialist sales alongside the general auctions.

Some of the items that have smashed their estimated prices are a pair of Chinese porcelain bowls which exceeded their guide price of £250-350 when they went under the hammer for £5,000 and a pair of late 19th century jardinières that were knocked down for £3,000 despite only having an estimate of £500-£700.

The auction house will hold its first sale of 2015 on Thursday January 8.