A WOMAN from Kidderminster needed time to "re-coop-erate" when her rooster teapot fetched nearly £5,000 at auction.

Halls Fine Art sold the brightly coloured George Jones majolica teapot for £4,700 on behalf of its owner at its saleroom in Shrewsbury.

The 11-inch teapot, which had a broken beak and finial, dated back to 1875 and was part of a 30-year-old collection.

Its owner, who did not want to be named, was not counting her chickens when she asked Halls experts to value her rooster, but the specialists quickly recognised its potential value.

Auctioneer Jeremy Lamond said: "The rooster did cause a bit of a flutter because recent prices for similar George Jones teapots in better condition than this one peaked at about £4,000."

The vendor was a keen traveller and an avid collector and started collecting when she inherited a number of teapots from her mother-in-law.

And the high demand for the same make in America turned her rooster into the star of the show when it was snapped up by a buyer from the London specialist trade.