THE enduring popularity of Sooty has been proved at auction as a set of vintage puppets and a Sooty Mobile used on TV sold for thousands of pounds.

Sooty, Sweep and Soo glove puppets, given as a gift by their Guiseley-born inventor Harry Corbett to an Otley brother and sister in the 1970s, sold for a hammer price of £5,000 at Hansons Auctioneers in Derbyshire on November 19.

In the same sale, a Sooty Mobile used on the children’s TV show by Matthew Corbett in the 1970s, sold for £1,100 despite needing major restoration.

Charles Hanson said: “Sooty has stolen the show yet again - with a little help from Sweep and Soo!

“We were honoured to sell these wonderful objects relating to a puppet which has stolen our hearts for generations. Sooty has been on TV since 1952.

“The puppets had a particularly touching story as Harry gave them to two children after their mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in the 1970s.

“The seller was with us in our Derbyshire saleroom and it was quite an emotional moment for her. The good news is, the puppets are staying in Yorkshire. They’re going to a private collection in the county and will be joining another rare Sooty puppet which sold for a world-record total price of £14,500 at Hansons in 2018.

“We were equally delighted to help the Sooty Mobile find a new home after being stuck in a Cambridge garage for 20 years. Hopefully, it can now be restored to its former glory."

The vintage Sooty, Sweep and Soo puppets revealed a story of compassion. Harry Corbett gave them to his friend Derek Jowett’s children in 1974 when they were six and four. He also put on puppet shows for the youngsters at their home after their mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The people who benefited from Harry’s kindness decades ago are retail business owner Vicky Golding, 49, and her brother Max Jowett, 51, a retired police officer, who both live north of Leeds. They believe Harry Corbett reached out to help their family due to their mother’s illness.

Mrs Golding, a mother of two, said: “My father, Derek Jowett, was Harry Corbett’s independent financial advisor for many years and they became good friends. I think they got to know each other in the 1960s.

“We lived in Otley and Harry lived in nearby Guiseley. My dad earned a good reputation as a financial expert and worked with a few people connected to the showbiz industry. I also met Harry’s son, Matthew Corbett.

“I remember Harry coming to our house in Otley and entertaining us with Sooty shows. Knowing dad so well, he must have been touched by our plight. Max and I were only small when mum became poorly.

“He gave us the set of vintage puppets. I played with Soo all the time. Max used to play with Sooty a lot. Sweep got a bit left out. Harry told us the puppets had been on the Sooty TV show.

“I was only nine and my brother was 11 when we lost our mum, Jackie Jowett, to breast cancer. She was diagnosed with the illness in her late 30s back in the early 1970s and died from it at the age of 46 in 1980.

“Breast cancer has claimed the lives of a few women in my family – in fact I was diagnosed with it at 46. But I was successfully treated thanks to radical surgery.

“The puppets have been stuck in a box for around 45 years and we thought it would be nice for them to go to someone who would treasure them. They deserve to be seen and enjoyed.”

Two phone bidders battled with internet bidders to own the Sooty Mobile and Joe Taylor, 26, from Farnborough, Hampshire, a builder and kickboxer, won the day.

He said: “I’m a huge fan of Sooty and know people involved in the show. I’ve just got to break it to my wife now!”

Seller Bruce Harward, 43, from Cambridge, admitted it was a wrench to part with the Sooty Mobile, a rare Honda Acty van.

He said: “When I was 18, I took it on a road trip across Europe and even to the odd rave. I always kept a vintage Matthew Corbett Sooty puppet in the glove compartment. He got a bit tatty and tattooed with Biro but he had some fun.”

Dad-of-one Bruce, who works in removals and at a theatre, was given the vehicle by Matthew Corbett, the son of Sooty inventor Harry Corbett, in the mid-90s.

“Matthew was my old next-door neighbour in Camberley, Surrey,” said Bruce. “I got to know his son, Joe, very well. In fact, Joe came on the European road trip. It stored all the camping equipment.

“Back in 1995, the Sooty Mobile was my everyday vehicle. I used it to get to work at Camberley cinema. In 1999 I eventually put it away in a garage and that’s where it’s been for the last 20 years.”

Harry Corbett invented Sooty in 1948 after buying a puppet for 7/6 (37p) during a holiday in Blackpool to entertain his children. He passed away at the age of 71 in 1989.