Del Boy’s tacky cocktail bar sells for thousands at West Midlands auction after being priced at £600

An Only Fools and Horses megafan has splashed out a "lovely jubbly" £22,000 on Del Boy's tacky cocktail bar.

The free-standing wraparound bar, decorated with cream-coloured padded vinyl on the outside, was a regular fixture in the Trotters’ flat. 

Fans of the comedy show will remember the bar for being where Del kept his ready supply of cigars. 

The pineapple ice bucket also took pride of place on the booze cabinet which was featured in most scenes throughout the long-running series. 

The bar, measuring 107cm (42in) high and 106cm (41.7in) wide, was produced by Italian furniture makers Mascagni Mobili. 

It was expected to fetch between £500 and £600 at auction but smashed its estimate when it triggered a 200-people bidding war. 

The final winning bid was £22,720 – 44 times more than the expected selling price – when it went under the hammer at Fielding's Auctioneers in Stourbridge, West Mids., on Thursday (September 25). 

Director Will Farmer said: “For me, we are of course thrilled. The vendor is thrilled. 

"The buyer is thrilled and he's already paid for it and collecting it tomorrow. He’s dropping the kids off tomorrow and driving up from Oxford. He's absolutely off the scale delighted.

“He’s a brilliant guy the new owner. They’re absolutely thrilled. He saw it via the media and in his own words he said ‘I’m having that’.

“When it did £10,000, we were shocked. It kept going, and it only takes two people to dig their heels in. It’s an incredible result, the vendor can’t actually believe it. He's as shocked as anything."

Will admitted he felt "a bit of a plonker" for giving the bar such a measly valuation.

He said: “It’s one of the highest prices, it’s the second highest for a piece of Only Fools and Horses memorabilia. I’m going to be living the £500 to £600 estimate down for a few years to come.

"It is fair to say I feel a bit of a plonker about that.

“It was a closed online-only sale. The whole thing was fought out on the internet. It was a fully contested sale online. We’re very thrilled with it.”

Rachel Holland, music and entertainment specialist for Fieldings, said: “This is a rare and fascinating piece of 20th-century popular culture. 

“By repute, the bar was used on the set of Only Fools and Horses. 

“It was acquired by the current vendor’s father, himself a known actor and producer, on 19th January 1992. 

“The piece was purchased directly from the sitcom’s prop coordinator following the studio’s relocation from London to Bristol. 

“It is offered together with a handwritten receipt from the seller reading: ‘Bar used on set of Only Fools and Horses, Sold J. Williams 19.1.92, S.P. Haberfield. 

“This bar is more than just a piece of furniture - it’s a slice of British television history."

Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC from 1981 to 1991, with 16 Christmas specials aired until the end of the show in 2003.