A FILM location manager who stumbled across "the deal of a lifetime" and bought the entire contents of a West Oxfordshire house is now offering part of his hoard to a local history group.

Andrew Cooke, 54, was working on crime television show Dalziel and Pascoe in Charlbury about 20 years ago when he came across a large house owned by a wealthy couple who were looking to clear the property.

However, recognising the potential value of the items in the house, he paid a lump sum of money - an amount he would not reveal - to the couple to buy everything in the house.

Within the impressive collection , the father-of-two discovered six year books of the Witney Gazette from 1892 to 1897 and is now looking to see whether anyone in the town would like to own them.

Mr Cooke said: "When this couple who owned the house showed me inside, it was astonishing. It was like a movie set. They had just moved in and were going to throw it all away so I offered to buy it.

"There was stuff from the late 1600s. It was fantastic, the deal of a lifetime."

It took Mr Cooke and 15 friends three days to clear out the house. Among the bells, caps and buttons in the collection, he also found pilot boots from the First World War which he sold for £600, and a small box of antique advertising cards which went for £800.

He added: "I also have these yearbooks. They are quite big, and each book is a complete year of the Witney Gazette newspaper. I always thought I'd have a sit down with them and go through them but the truth is I just haven't.

"So the box has just been sitting in my garage for about the last 20 years and I've just decided to put them up for sale on eBay.

"I have tried emailing the Witney local history group but have had no reply and would like to let them know about the sale as I think it might interest them and it would be nice to see them go to a good home."

Mr Cooke spent many years working in West Oxfordshire while filming different television shows and movies but now lives in Marton, near Rugby with his wife Cate and sons Billy, 12, and Charlie, 10.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the year books can email andrew.cooke@zen.co.uk for details.