Rat sculptures raise £160k for charity
BBCForty-five large rat sculptures that were on display around Hull this summer have been sold, raising £160k for charity.
The sculptures pay tribute to rock musician Mick Ronson from the sixties band The Rats.
On Saturday, 23 of them went under the hammer - the other rats were pre-sold to their sponsors.
The money raised will go to the Daisy Appeal, which supports Cottingham's Castle Hill hospital.
The 6ft-tall (1.8m) rats were part of a walking trail across the city and went on show ahead of what would have been Mick Ronson's 80th birthday on 26 May.
The remaining sculptures were sold by Gilbert Baitson Auctioneers in the Princes Quay Event Space on Saturday and raised over £93k.
Valerie Easton was delighted after she bid and won lot number three.
"I'm going to put it in our garden," she said.
"We've just recently moved to the area so these guys were my first kind of introduction to Hull.
"I've had my eye on them for quite a while."
Ian Jones also bought one as a keepsake as he had been involved with the art trails before.
"I just wanted to mark my 15 years of involvement and have something as a memento," he said.
"So ratty is going in the garden."
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