THE oldest surviving poppy from the battlefields of the First World War sold for more than £6,000 at a sale in Dorchester.

The red flower was picked from the frontline trenches of Arras in northern France by 17-year-old British soldier Private Cecil Roughton in 1916.

He stowed it away pressed flat between the pages of his notebook before bringing it back to Britain with him, later giving it to his 13-year-old next door neighbour Joan Banton.

He had written on a page where the flower was kept: “Souvenir from a frontline trench near Arras. May 1916. C. Roughton 1923.”

The poignant memento remained in Mrs Banton’s family and was sold by her daughter Sue Best, of Corfe Castle.

It went under the hammer at Duke’s auctioneers for £5,200. With premiums added on, the overall price paid was £6,200.

In another sale, a diamond necklace which had been locked away in a safe for 40 years sold for almost £250,000. The 64-carat necklace featuring 53 cut diamonds broke the record for the most expensive item of jewellery sold at Duke’s.