Smith and Sons’ first Wirral property auction of 2015 has raised more than £1.2m.

Held at the Village Hotel, Bromborough, the auction room was packed with the highest attendance figures for several years.

There was “lively and competitive bidding” for houses in need of refurbishment and repair with a four-bed house in Wallasey guided at £40,000 selling for £73,000.

Chris Johnson, auctioneer at Smith and Sons, said: “There were many regular visitors but it was also good to see new faces keen on buying investment opportunities as well as homes for owner occupation.”

There was great deal of interest in a commercial unit in Heswall which sold for £81,500 against a guide of £55,000. And a detached bungalow in Thingwall sold well and in excess of the guide, as did flats in Wallasey, residential investments and a three bed semi-detached house in Bromborough.