Sir Jimmy Savile mementoes sell at auction

A sale of the late Sir Jimmy Savile's possessions and mementoes has got under way with one of the late DJ's Highland suits going for £280. The tweed jacket and kilt was the first of 549 lots to go under the hammer in Sir Jimmy's home city of Leeds. The auction, which is expected to take at least eight hours, will include gold suits, Cuban cigars and the broadcaster's beloved Rolls-Royce. The lots include thousands of items of memorabilia owned by Sir Jimmy, which are being sold to raise money for his charitable trust. His trademark tracksuits and jewellery, including a £12,000 gold and diamond-encrusted Rolex watch, gold identity bracelet and rings, are all on offer along with the first ever chair from his Jim'll Fix It TV show. The sale kicked off at Savile Hall, at the Royal Armouries, with around 300 people packing the room and many more bidders taking part over the phone and via internet. Lot one - the Highland suit - was bought by a local man on the front row. As the auction continued, some items started to soar above their estimates. A Scottish shepherd's crook estimated to sell for between £30 and £60 went for £380. A tireless charity worker, Sir Jimmy is thought to have raised more than £40 million for good causes in his lifetime. He died just before his 85th birthday last year and requested his belongings be sold for charity after his death.

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.