Collection of 2,500 spoons that started as a hobby and covered the walls of a pensioner's home goes on market

The collection is being sold by a Skegness bookkeeper, Paulina Tomczyk, who inherited it from her late father, Paue, when he died, aged 67.

Paulina said the spoons were his pride and joy in his home in Nottingham – but admitted that, in spite of the sentimental value, they are not really her thing.

"He started the collection when he retired as a ticket collector on the railway and it became a hobby of his,” she explained. “It took him two-and-a-half years to get this many and when people saw them mounted on plaques in his rooms they’d say ‘wow that’s a lot of spoons’.

"They thought he was crazy but he loved it. Ever spoon is different and the ‘Royal collection’ was his favourite."

Paulina says she does not have room to display them in her home.

"At the moment they are boxed up in my attic,” said Paulina, who moved to Skegness from Northampton three-and-a-half years ago and set up her own business called Laura on Roman Bank.

“Dad really loved them but although they have sentimental value to me, I’m never going to display them so I thought I’d try selling them.

"I’m hoping to find someone who might appreciate them as much as he did.”

The collection includes gold, silver and metal spoons and are for sale on Facebook Marketplace for £23,000, it is hoped a collector will soon take interest.