A Norfolk bomber ace's bravery awards have sold at auction for more than twice their estimated worth.

A group of 10 honours plus detailed logbooks belonging to Holt-born Brian 'Darkie' Hallows went under the hammer at Spink in London this morning for £7,500.

The collection had been valued at between £2,800 to £3,200. A Spink spokesman declined to release any details about the buyer.

Darkie, whose jet black hair earned him his nickname, came from a family who ran the town's laundry and dry-cleaning business.

He won the Distinguished Flying Cross for his 'determination and pluck' in a daring 1942 Second World War bombing mission, over Augsburg, on an enemy diesel engine factory.

Of the dozen Lancasters which took part in Operation Marlin, only five made it safely home. Darkie's bomber suffered 'a bloody great hole' in the wing. Darkie, who retired to Sheringham, died in 2004.