BARGAINS were snapped up at an auction on Wednesday night as government repossessed assets went under the hammer.

Items included a thirty foot yacht that was at the centre of a people smuggling court case and a Frank Muller watch which usually sells for £21,500.

The Kingfisher 30 yacht, which is being held in Maidstone, was sold for £1,250 to an online bidder. The watch sold to a bidder who was at the auction for £6,500.

Nigel Binks General manager at the Newport auction said: “It has been very successful evening for everyone concerned, including the government bodies who we sell the items for.

“We have a lot of interest in items both physically where people have come into the auction room and online. We have had bidders from all over the world interested in the items that are up for auction.

“There have been some real bargains in there.

"This will be a regular thing for our Newport centre.

"Since we took over last year we wanted to diversify the portfolio of sales that we have here and so hopefully this will be a sale we have every month.”

Other items that sold at the auction were a Gucci Grammy Awards Watch, valued at £1,200, which sold for £350.

Rob Jones from Newport was earlier car auction and decided to stay and watch the auction.

“There seemed to be a lot of activity around the place, more than normal, and this is the busiest I’ve seen the auction for quite a while. But this is not really my scene.”

Tom Reynolds from the Leeway Motor Company was also at the auction.

He said: “Tonight was a very good night and I bought a few cars. I have seen a few watches I like, but they’re too much money at the moment. I’m going to see what happens.

“I buy from a load of auctions and I travel around the country, so I hope to start coming here more. I would rather come here than go away.”

Holly Gordon from Crumlin was observing the auction.

She said: “We came for a look tonight, we have been here before to bid. There have been a couple of really good deals. It’s fantastic and we will be back soon.”

For full details on future auctions visit wilsonsauctions.com