Auction House London held its second live-stream auction to take place during the lockdown on 6 May, which delivered an 84% success rate and included the highest number of registered bidders for a single lot that Auctioneer Andrew Binstock has ever seen.

49 lots were sold from the 58 offered on the day, with bidding taking place online, by phone or by proxy, raising a total of almost £10m. But it was the very first lot – a one-bedroom, ground floor flat in Redhill, Surrey - which became the story of the sale.

Binstock said: “There were astonishing and unprecedented levels of interest for Lot 1. We had 39 registered bidders who had each deposited funds in advance, in order to bid on that property. We had originally guided it at £80,000, but bidding was fast and furious and it wasn’t long before I was able to hammer it down at more than twice that price, for £190,500.

“I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed 39 different people registering to bid on one lot ever since my career began two decades ago – let alone where they were required to pay up front – so that was quite staggering. I seriously wonder whether it’s something I will ever see happen again.”