Hundreds of people have queued up at the Assembly Rooms hoping to be told that old family heirlooms and items picked up at car boot sales are worth a fortune.

BBC 2 programme Flog It is filming in the city this morning and when the team opened the doors at 9.30am this morning, the lines stretched down the street.

Antique experts sat waiting inside to value anything from old toys and trinkets to large paintings and artwork, while presenter Paul Martin chatted to the crowds.

Janita Shadalack, who has a house in Sion Hill, was picked out of the queue because the producers liked the look of her set of Chinese and Indian traditional games.

She was selected to be filmed by the camera crews as her valuation took place and was pleased to be told that the sets could make up to £350 and £150 each at auction.

The 73-year-old said: “I really wanted to learn more about them because they have been in the family for 50 odd years. But the time has come for them to change hands and go to someone who will appreciate them.”

Expert David Barby said the games, which included hundreds of mother of pearl pieces, had been custom made for an aristocratic family.

Mrs Shadalack said: “My mother collected mother of pearl and this is part of her collection. As children, and the grandchildren, we were never allowed to play with them, which is why they are in such good condition now.”

José Ash, 73, from Lower Weston, had taken along an old silver nurse’s brooch, which she had worn for work during the 1960s.

She said: “It is a lovely brooch and they said it was worth around £150 if I’m lucky. I’m not going to take it for auction but I might try to sell it at a jewellers.”

Sarah Wall, who lives in The Oval and was at the event with her husband Alan, was less lucky with her collection of paintings from her grandmother’s attic.

The 43-year-old said: “They were her in laws’, so my great grandparents, and they had been there for 30 or 40 years.

“Unfortunately they were prints so they aren’t worth a lot. It is a bit disappointing, because there is that hope in the back of your mind that it might be worth millions. But it has been fun coming along.”

Paula Richards had gone along with her friend Sammy Hill with a collection of microscopes, silver napkin rings, a soup terrine and pin cushions.

The 42-year-old from Foxhill said: “We read about it in the Chronicle and my mum knew we had a loft full of things so we should bring it along.

“None of it was massively valuable, but different lots were about £50, so it all adds up.”

Heather Thomas was chosen by the producers to be filmed while she was having her Edwardian brooch and Victoria bangle valued.

The 57-year-old, who is originally from Bath but now lives in Longwell Green, said the pair had been valued at between £30 and £50 and she had enjoyed finding out about the history of the jewellery.

She said: “It has been really interesting, I have really enjoyed it. I am selling them because we recently moved and it seems an awful waste just having them in a cupboard.

“I want someone who is going to enjoy them.”

Mrs Thomas is the national chair of the Huntington’s Disease Association, so is going to donate ten per cent of any money raised to the charity.

Free valuations will be carried out at the Assembly Rooms throughout the day, until the doors close at 4pm.

Pictures

BBC TV’s Flog It comes to Bath