A NORTH Yorkshire couple's ceramics collection, due to go under the hammer next week, is creating worldwide interest.

The 50 Royal Doulton figurines - built up by a couple near Tadcaster over more than 30 years - will be up for sale at Number 1 Auctions, in Boston Spa, on Monday, starting at 6.30pm.

Auctioneer Malcolm Dowson, who runs the Boston Spa sale room, said it was the best Royal Doulton collection he had come across in the last 20 years.

He said: "I've been inundated with phone calls since the collection went on the website, including calls from America and Canada from people keen to bid over the phone."

The couple, from a village near Tadcaster, decided to clear out the collection to make room in their home for their new passion - figurines by Border Fine Arts.

The Royal Doulton figurines date from the 1930s through to the late 1980s and Mr Dowson, of Sherburn-in-Elmet, said the rarity of the older pieces made them particularly sought after.

The more valuable lots include a Pierrot clown, a fireman, a lawyer, a policeman and a woman making a patchwork quilt, with reserve prices from £100 to £2,000.

The auction rooms will be open for viewing this Sunday between 1pm and 7pm.

Bidding is expected to be fierce, but unlikely to reach the heights of one of Mr Dowson's auctions last year. A double-headed jester went for £12,500, a world record for a Royal Doulton figure.

Updated: 10:39 Saturday, June 29, 2002