Beatles memorabilia always sells well (Pic: Christie's Images Ltd)

Hundreds of items related to the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Queen and Madonna also went under the hammer at the sale in London.

A wooden sculpture of a cupboard, designed by John Lennon, claimed the highest price of the day, �28,200.

Trousers worn in 1984 by the late Queen star Freddie Mercury were sold to the Hard Rock Cafe for �4,230.

Thursday's sale at Christie's featured everything from lyrics, gold discs, unpublished photographs, contracts and concert flyers.

An in-flight Pan Am menu signed by the Beatles fetched almost �10,000. The menu, from 1964, was one of 177 lots to be snapped up.

Other items from the Beatles included an autograph note signed by Lennon for �19,975, and a signed programme for the group's 1965 US tour that fetched �13,512.

A 1976 pencil sketch on paper of Charlie Chaplin by Michael Jackson went for �4,112, above its estimate of �1,200.

Memorabilia linked to the greatest names in pop is highly attractive to collectors.

Last month auctioneers reported a rare photograph of the Beatles on sale in an internet auction attracted huge interest from bidders.

The 1965 picture, which lay undiscovered for more than 30 years, reached �6,900 in bids and the auction website attracted more than 30,000 visitors during its first few hours online.

In April, a cardboard cut-out of Marlene Dietrich used on the cover of the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper album sold at auction for �86,250.