Peter Rabbit trail auction 'exceeded expectations'

An auction of Peter Rabbit sculptures which formed a city trail during summer "totally exceeded our expectations", the charity behind it has said.

The 96 rabbits were dotted around Newcastle and North Tyneside for nine weeks, with people encouraged to visit and snap a photo of each one.

St Oswalds Hospice said it raised £300,000 from selling the sculptures to bidders on Tuesday night, which it said was the highest performing auction it ever had.

Head of fundraising Jane Hogan said: "Today, I'm still very much in the mindset 'we cannot top this' - but people remind me I say that every time."

She compared the end of the auction to the ending of the 1947 film It's A Wonderful Life - when a town pools together to save the beloved main character's business - with bidders raising the stakes to try and hit the £300,000 mark.

The total beats the previous total raised by a Shaun the Sheep trail three years ago by £100,000.

The top seller was a book bench painted by artists Jina Gelder, raising £52,500, the most any sculpture has raised across any of the charity's art trails.

Others at the top of the list include the large classic Peter Rabbit, fetching £21,000, and the Newcastle United-themed Peter, scoring £10,500.

The charity was "completely overwhelmed", she said, and the money would be reinvested in its care for people with life-limiting conditions.

"We are owned by the community to an extent," she said.

"Our families say we give them the opportunity to forget about the treatment and conditions, we give wives their husbands back, brothers their sisters back, and children their mums and dads back."

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