Zippy's voice was provided by actor Roy Skelton

Many viewers still have fond memories of the long-running ITV show, which was presented by Geoffrey Hayes.

Only four or five sets of these characters are thought to have survived.

The three characters will be sold on 12 July by a fancy-dress shop owner who bought them during a studio clear-out in the 1980s.

Cult TV

The characters come complete with a set of costumes, including a turquoise and silver tutu for Bungle, a deerstalker and cape, a fake ermine-trimmed, red velvet cape and snakeskin, superhero costume and mask for George and Zippy.

Also for sale is a range of cult TV and film related toys, space toys and robots dating from the 1940s up to the present day, and valued from �200 to �20,000.

Daniel Agnew, a film and television memorabilia expert at Christie's, told the Independent newspaper: "We've found that Bond toys and Thunderbird toys from the 1960s have been getting more and more valuable.

"We're now slowly creeping into the Seventies."

Clockwork robot

The highlight of the sale is an extremely rare Diamond Planet Robot, valued up to �20,000.

This large clockwork robot, the first of its kind to be offered at auction by Christie's, was produced by the Japanese company Yonezawa in the late 1950s and is to be sold in its original box.

Toys such as Barbie, Sasha, Action Man, Disney and Noddy will also feature in the sale.

Rainbow ran on ITV for 20 years from 1972 and was created as a rival to BBC's Play School.

The show was axed in 1992 when Thames Television lost its ITV franchise, although the format was revived twice for brief periods in the 1990s.