A lock of John Lennon's hair sells for $48,000

A lock of John Lennon's hair has been sold at auction for $48,000 - TEN  times the price it was expected to fetch.

The moptop strands were given a guide price of between $4,000 and $6,000 but bidding soon spiralled out of control. It finally sold to an unnamed private collector from London over the phone.

The lock was part of a sale of Beatles memorabilia built up by the Beatles' former hairdresser Betty Glasow who retired recently to Worthing, West Sussex.

It was attached to a page of Lennon's 1965 book A Spaniard In The Works, and sat alongside a hand-written message: "To Betty, lots of love and hair, from John Lennon xx."

Mrs Glasow was given the lock after grooming the Fab Four's distinctive fringed hair for the films A Hard Days Night and Help! in the 1960s.

Francesca Collin, of Gorringes auctioneers in Worthing, said: "We thought it might go as high as $20,000 but never as much as it did. It just shows how much interest there still is in the Beatles."

She said Mrs Glasow had been privy to many secrets about the Beatles, including the late George Harrison's dandruff problem. Pictures dedicated to her by Harrison sold for $13,000.