A FIRST edition of Charles Darwin's Origin Of Species which was kept in an Oxford toilet for years will go under the hammer this week.

Christie's auction house said the book, estimated to reach £60,000, was bought by a family for just a few shillings in a shop in the West Country about 40 years ago.

It has since been kept on a bookcase in the guest lavatory at their home in the Oxford area.

The book will be auctioned on Tuesday in London.