People have been flocking to a charity shop after it unearthed a valuable letter signed by King George V.

The letter was discovered by Little Haven Children's Hospice shop manager after an anonymous benefactor dropped off a bag of donations at the store.

The find has meant queues of people, nearly stretching out the door, have formed at the Chelmsford shop just to get a glimpse of the artefact.

Manager Ken Coley also found a turn of the century watch in the bag of bric-a-brac.

He said: "The phone has not stopped ringing, it's been going crazy.

"I will have people coming in by the bus load to look at the watch and the letter."

The shop is now enlisting the help of a watchmaker to see if the watch holds any connections to the letter.

"He is going to get into the back of it and see whether the watch has got any markings inside that relate to the letter."

The letter, dated 1918, is signed by King George V to Private Cree on his return from the First World War and is written on Buckingham Palace headed note paper.

The unusual finds have been valued at £100 for the watch and between £50 to £100 for the letter.

Anyone interested in buying the items can contact Mr Coley on 01245 492662

Published Tuesday, January 14, 2003

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