A necktie once owned by John Lennon has sold for more than $4,500 (£3,000) at an auction in the U.K.

The black knitted tie went under the hammer at the Beatles Shop in Lennon's native Liverpool, England.

The Imagine singer handed the tie to fan Joyce MCWilliams in 1962 when she was a teenager watching the Fab Four play at the famous Cavern Club.

She recalls, "The Beatles were recording some numbers and I was sitting on the edge of the stage holding the microphone stand. It was very hot in the club and John asked me to lend him a handkerchief to mop his brow with.

"He handed it back to me, and loosened his tie when I said, 'I thought you were going to give me your tie,' and he just handed it to me."

MCWilliams admits she was devastated when her mother later washed the sweat-drenched handkerchief by accident.

Rare photos of The Beatles also sold at the auction, and shop manager Stephen Bailey insists, "Every year we think that the quality and number of rare items offered for auction must decrease and we are always proved wrong. It is amazing, people just keep coming into the shop month after month with the most unusual rare items."