Pete Waterman's pristine model trains go under the hammer

Pop producer Pete Waterman, who has also carved out a role for himself in the world of train modelling and railway preservation, has sold 56 pristine models at auction for thousands of pounds.

Two of the 56 models went for a hammer price of £100,000 each, while another went for £85,000 - but the total with buyers premium is still to be confirmed.

As the world's leading collector and patron of modellers, Mr Waterman decided to sell what amounts to around a tenth of his collection in order to raise enough money to secure the future of Waterman Railway Heritage Trust, which holds his collection of full-size steam engines, housed at sites around the country.

Mr Waterman has been collecting for 56 years, starting at the age of 11 when he paid around £8 - twice the going rate - for a rare engine that had gone out of production 20 years earlier.

The music producer said he was born next to a railway line and his first job in 1962 was on a railway.

Speaking about the extent of his interest, Mr Waterman said: "There is not one minute I'm not playing trains."