A leading fine art auction house has ended its year in style as a collection of Royal Worcester figures and animals sold for £42,500.

The collection, which extended to 54 lots and came from a farmhouse near Bewdley, included mostly animals modelled by Doris Lindner in the 1960s and 70s.

Dealers and collectors from all over Britain packed the Welsh Bridge saleroom in Shrewsbury for the auction, which also attracted three telephone bids, including one from Australia.

Top price of the day was more than £7,000 for a model titled Circus Horses, which was advertised on the front cover of the sale catalogue.

Next best price was £1,600 for a model titled In the Ring, showing a circus act with a girl standing on three horses.

Other notable prices included £1,300 for an American Saddle Horse, £1,150 each for an Aberdeen Angus Bull, Royal Horse Guards and the Duke of Wellington and £1,000 each for two models of a Welsh Mountain Pony, Galloping Dartmoor Ponies and Officer of the Lifeguards.

Halls Fine Art's ceramics expert Jeremy Lamond was delighted with the sale result, which he said underlined the company's strength and experience at selling single owner collections.

"The sale attracted international interest with the bidding being dominated by two or three major buyers," he said.

"The collection sold to a combination of collectors and dealers in the room and telephone bidders, one of which was in Australia.

"It was an excellent result to complete a highly successful year for Halls Fine Art."

He explained the collection had been gathered during the 1970s and 80s and that most of the models were stored away by the collector rather than being displayed.

"It was an excellent example of Royal Worcester collectable porcelain from that period," he added.