A rare first edition Oor Wullie annual bought for just 20 pence has fetched almost £1000 at auction.

The 1940 Oor Wullie annual was the first ever to be published. The book, with the iconic image of Wullie on his bucket adorning the cover, is one of only a handful discovered in recent years.

It turned up in a box of model trains and magazines at a garage sale in Biggar, Lanarkshire, and sold to a collector for £960 at Bonhams Scottish Sale of Art and Memorabilia in Edinburgh.

A Bonhams spokesman said: "It's always fantastic when something found by chance turns out to be so valuable, and that's what makes auctions so interesting. From 20 pence to nearly £1000 is a fair return by any standards."

The book, which fetched the staggering sum despite being in a tattered state, only emerged after bargain hunter Eddie McVey, 48, went to the garage sale with his Oor Wullie lookalike grandson Ayden, age five.

Mr McVey handed over 20 pence for the box of model trains and magazines - because he thought one particular train set may be worth something.

But when he presented the box to Bonhams' experts in Edinburgh, it was the Oor Wullie annual that caught the valuer's eye.

He said: "Ayden looks like Oor Wullie and I'm convinced that had something to do with me finding the annual. I've heard that only five have ever been found in the world, and I was stunned when they said it could be worth a lot of money.

"I enjoyed the auction, and when my book came up the auctioneer was smiling. It's a great return for my 20 pence."

Oor Wullie had already been a Sunday Post favourite for four years when the first annual was produced.

Thousands were sold but most were destroyed by their owners. Kids in wartime were encouraged to recycle comics and annuals to help the war effort.