The black boat-shaped mutz hat once owned by the Italian fascist dictator was sold for �2,300 to a private bidder.

It was among a collection of books, private papers and other effects liberated from Mussolini's personal library by a British pilot at the end of World War II.

Captain H Richard Beck retrieved the items from the abandoned Villa Carpena, near Mussolini's native village of Predappio, when he was stationed there towards the end of the war.

'A piece of history'

His haul, which went under the hammer in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, also included an unpublished photograph of Mussolini and his mistress, books, family photographs and personal letters.

The 57 lots were put up for sale by the late Captain Beck's family and raised a total of �7,500.

Captain Beck's flying log book, with entries referring to his duties at the villa, fetched �850 but many of the items went for between �15 and �50.

Richard Scales, from Leeds, spent just �15 on a newspaper cutting highlighted by Il Duce's pen.

He said: "I don't really know what I've bought, but it's a piece of history for �15. You can't go wrong."

'I'm amazed at the reaction'

After the sale, auctioneer Ian Peace said that as far as he knew, it had been the biggest lot of Mussolini memorabilia ever.

He said: "I'm amazed at the reaction. I had my own estimates and everything has gone really well.

"I'm particularly pleased and amazed with the �2,300 for the hat, it's a lot of money for a hat.

"For a lot of people, it was a chance to pick up a piece of history for not a lot of money."