Leeds auctioneer sells Emmeline Pankhurst's banner after 10 years on the shelf

a banner used by leading suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst that was tucked away in a Leeds charity shop for 10 years has been sold at auction for Â£13,600.

Auctioneer Gary Don described the sale as “worldwide”, with 14 bidders across a possible 110 countries.

Even after verifying the banner, Mr Don only expected it to be sold for around £7,000.

Around a decade ago a man donated the piece to the anonymous charity.

It had belonged to a woman who is thought to have moved to Leeds from Manchester in the 1930s.

Mr Don said: “Something like that, it’s quite an event really. When you think about what they had to go through, these ladies.

“At the time they were not very popular with a lot of people. It’s very unusual for something like that [the banner] to come to light.