AN original hand puppet used to depict the classic children’s television character Sooty is set to go under the hammer.

The vintage Sooty, which was used in a stage show by creator Harry Corbett, was given to Eunice Weston, from Clacton, when she was just a girl.

Mr Corbett passed on the puppet while staying at the town’s Robin Hood bed and breakfast pub in 1960.

The puppet, which was made to measure Harry’s hand, is expected to fetch between £1,000 and £1,500 when it is sold off by Hansons auctioneers.

Mrs Weston, 69, said: “My parents Norton and Louise Whipps ran the Robin Hood pub in the 1960s and the stars of the day used to stay there when they were performing at the town’s Savoy Theatre.

“Harry Corbett stayed at the Robin Hood when he was in a show at the Savoy.

“I didn’t really speak to him very much.

“I was only 11, quite shy and used to scuttle off to school.

“So, I was delighted at the end of the week when he gave me the Sooty puppet. Sooty was huge back then.”

She added: “At that time everyone only had three TV channels and everyone watched Sooty.

“The puppet was made to measure for Harry with a long cuff.

“I played with him a bit but, as I was 11, I took good care of him.

“My children used to play with Sooty when they were small. They knew he was the real thing.”

In September, an original puppet used by Harry Corbett on television in the 1950s sold for £14,500.

Another Sooty puppet, used by Matthew Corbett in his last stage show in 1997, is also set to be auctioned off.

Sooty made his television debut in 1952 and shows bearing his name have continued in various forms since 1955.

The show holds the Guinness World Record for longest-running continuing children’s programme.

The two puppets will be sold at Derbyshire’s Hansons Auctioneers on November 23.