FOUR oils by Worcestershire's greatest painter Benjamin Williams Leader are expected to fetch a total of £61,000 when they go under the hammer today.

One of the pictures, due to be auctioned at Christie's in London, is tipped to fetch up to £10,000.

The painting, The Outskirts of a Worcestershire Common, clearing up after rain, Evening, was completed in 1885 by Leader - the first Worcester-born painter to be elected to the prestigious Royal Academy.

As a member of the academy, the landscape artist could place the letters RA after his name in common with Turner, Constable and Gainsborough.

Another Leader painting in the sale, which is attracting many collectors, is entitled On The River Llugwy, North Wales.

This first changed hands in April 1907 for just 60 guineas - £63 - but was today expected to fetch £6,000.

Late Autumn on an English River has an estimated price of £15,000 to £20,000 and The Evening Hour could go for between £15,000 and £25,000, experts say.

A spokesman for Christie's said there had been considerable interest.

"We're expecting them to reach more than £61,000," he said.

Leader was born in Worcester on March 12, 1831, the third of 11 children.

The name Benjamin Williams was entered into the Quaker Birth Register, but he later added the surname Leader to distinguish himself from the Williams family of artists to whom he was not related.