His band sang the original version of dance floor classic Hi Ho Silver Lining and he called Norfolk his home for the last 28 years of his life.

Fans of Thin Lizzy may also remember John Du Cann for his involvement with the Irish hard rockers when he joined the band as a temporary guitarist on their tour of Germany shortly after Gary Moore had left.

A collection of 300 items, including 65 guitars, belonging to the former Atomic Rooster star are set to go under the hammer at a Diss auction house.

A 1963 Fender Stratocaster and 1966 Fender Telecaster will be among the lots at T W Gaze auctions on Friday, January 13, along with posters and Du Cann's record collection.

A Vox AC-30 amplifier will also be among the items up for auction.

The Leicester-born musician, who died in September aged 65, moved to Norfolk in 1983 and lived initially in Fakenham before moving to the Muspole Street area of Norwich, where he ran a greenhouse and conservatory company.

During his musical career, he started playing guitar for Wiltshire-based The Sonics and London's The Attack before joining the psychedelic, progressive hard rock band Andromeda.

After leaving Andromeda, he joined progressive rock band Atomic Rooster, providing re-recorded guitar parts for the albums Death Walks Behind You and In Hearing of Atomic Rooster.

In 1977, Du Cann teamed up with Status Quo guitarist Francis Rossi to release the album The World's Not Big Enough and in September 1979 had a number 33 hit in the UK singles chart with Don't Be a Dummy, which was recorded by Gary Numan and used in a Lee Cooper jeans TV advertisement in 1978.

During the 1990s, he was involved in cataloguing and remastering his personal tape archive.

He was also a temporary guitarist for Thin Lizzy, appearing on the band's German tour after Gary Moore left the band and played guitar for Hard Stuff.

Arguably his most famous contribution to music came during his time with The Attack when the London-based psychedelic rock band released a version of the song 'Hi Ho Silver Lining' a few days before rock guitarist Jeff Beck.

Although the tune was not a massive success at the time of its release, it has since become a popular disco anthem.

James Bassam, sales organiser at TW Gaze, said his record collection included albums by 1960s bands as well as Motown and prog rock classics.

He added: 'There will be sales of popular memorabilia so obviously people will be quite interested in what happens in the auction.

'The posters are from bands that never come up for auction at all.'

For more information, phone James Bassam at T W Gaze on 01379 650306 or visit the website www.twgaze.com.

dominic.bareham@archant.co.uk