Bidders from around the world vied for memorabilia of the late acting legend Peter Cushing at a special auction in Canterbury.

The sale was a treasure trove from his personal life and 60-year acting career in which he starred in the Hammer Horror’s Dracula and Frankenstein films, Sherlock Holmes and Star Wars.

Mr Cushing, who lived in Whitstable and died aged 82 in 1994, still has a worldwide following and the sale by his family raised a total of more than £100,000 – double its estimate.

Some 260 lots, including film memorabilia, posters, photographs and artwork, went under the hammer at the Canterbury Auction Galleries on October 1.

Star Wars memorabilia fetched good prices – such as a rare 1977 letter from Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz informing Mr Cushing of a bonus, which went to a UK bidder for £1,350.

An original script also made £1,250.

But it was Cushing’s more personal items, including his artwork, that commanded most attention.

Perhaps the most poignant was the silk scarf he made for his wife, Helen, which was bought by a man for his wife for £1,150.

The story of the scarf began in 1946 when Peter was 39 and between plays.

A talented artist, he hand-painted Helen a scarf because he could not afford to buy her a Christmas present.

She wore it to the opening night of a play, where it was spotted by a textile manufacturer, who invited him to his mills to learn screen-printing.

Cushing took to it and for the rest of that year designed and created silk scarves, notably for the Festival of Britain and the Queen’s Coronation.

He was thrilled to see the Queen Mother wearing one of his creations when they met in 1956.

Cushing made his wife many personal gifts over the years, including a group of seven individual miniatures he painted of Henry VIII and his wives, each dedicated to her and signed which sold for double their estimate, fetching £1,850.

His old Olympia typewriter, estimated at £200-£300, sold for £1,300. Even his childhood toy pig sold well over estimate for £580.

Posters were also keenly sought and a 'The Brides of Dracula' 1960, French film poster for 'Les Maitresses de Dracula', a Universal Films production, fetched £1,250.

Cushing studied art all through his life and bidding was intense for his creations, especially for a selection of scrapbooks filled with coloured drawings of birds, complete with funny captions, plus costume sketches and cuttings which sold for £2,200, way over the guide price.

A few watercolours by him fetched around £1,000 each, such as a view of his beloved Whitstable, and a book of caricatures drawn while at his local tearoom also sold for £800.

One fan who had enjoyed a lengthy correspondence with Cushing and his long-time assistant and friend Joyce Boughton, bought a collection of Royal letters and a Christmas card to remember him by.

The letters had been sent to Cushing from Balmoral and Buckingham Palace and sold for £500.

Another key item was a folder of 230 handwritten pages of his autobiography, dated January 1985, which sold for £4,000 and his big red ‘This is Your Life’ book, which fetched £3,200, both to British bidders.

A handwritten script for ‘the Bois Saga’ was snapped up by an American buyer for £2,600.

But the star lot – a pair of slippers worn on set and a figure of him as Star Wars character Grand Moff Tarkin made by the props/costume department which had an estimate of £15,000 to £20,000 failed to sell.