A COLLECTION of Chinese dishes which were set to make a modest £1,680 under the hammer have been snapped up for a staggering £142,022.

The nine pieces were sold as individual lots at Reeman Dansie auction house, in Severalls Industrial Estate – with the most successful making an incredible £90,000.

Most of the pieces had a high guide price of less than £300.

The dishes belong to an anonymous Colchester resident, who inherited them from the late Major General Jack W Tulloch.

Read the full story in tomorrow's Gazette.