NINE rare porcelain figures owned by a Broadway resident are expected to fetch about £10,000 at auction next week.

The figures, by acclaimed British designer Charles Vyse, form the last part of a collection belonging to 98-year-old Peter Lindner.

Mr Lindner inherited the collection from his wife's grandmother, who bought them direct from Vyse in the 1920s and 30s. He has already sold 15 figures for more than £30,000.

So far the top price reached has been £4,800, paid for a 1934/5 group entitled The Horse Fair and a 1933 model of a woman standing with her child entitled Barnet Fair.

The figures will go on sale at Halls Fine Art, in Shrewsbury, next Wednesday.

Director Richard Allen said: "At the age of 98 Mr Lindner says that he can no longer be doing with dusting the figures. "Vyse figures are rare and they generate a lot of competition when they come up for auction."

Vyse began his apprenticeship for Doulton as a modeller and designer in 1896, went on to study at the Royal College of Arts and became a member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1911.

He began producing his own figures at his studio in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, in 1919 with the help of his wife, Nell. Their early figures included The Balloon Woman and The Lavender Girl.

There are believed to be about 4,000 pieces of Vyse work in museums and private collections around the world.