Hendrix died in 1970 aged 27

Station Break was recorded in 1966, early in his solo career, and was discovered in a cupboard 12 years ago.

Although other tracks from the same session were made available, it has never been clear why this particular song remained unknown for so long.

The successful bidder at the sale in October will also acquire the right to digitally remaster the recording.

Instrumentals

The tape was unearthed by Celeste Simon, the widow of the song's co-writer Jerry Simon.

Jerry Simon was also president of the company which was publishing Hendrix's material at the time.

We are anticipating a lot of interest in this but we really have no indication of what it will raise Wendy Chou, spokeswoman for auction organiser Ocean Tomo

He also produced the session at Allegro Sound Studios when the lost track was made, along with instrumentals including Kato's Special, Flying on Instruments and No Such Animal.

Mrs Simon realised that nothing had ever been done with the song.

She "had no reason to sell it" at the time but had now made it available, said Wendy Chou, a spokeswoman for Ocean Tomo, the merchant bank organising the auction.

"We are anticipating a lot of interest in this but we really have no indication of what it will raise," she told the Reuters news agency.

The musician's sister, Janie, is president of the company Experience Hendrix, which owns the rights to his recordings.

She said that although she had acquired most of his unreleased work, there were still "a few stragglers".