Massive Severn pike sells for £380

One of the largest pike ever caught in the River Severn made a splash for a second time when it sold for £380 at a fine-art auction house.

The cased pike weighed in at about 34lb when it was caught at Bewdley in 1988.

Now it has been purchased by a buyer from the Fylde Coast, Lancashire, at Halls' sale of antique furniture, ceramics and works of art in Shrewsbury.

Andrew Beeston, Halls' senior auctioneer and valuer, said: "The pike was caught during a fishing match, and it was too big for the scales, which were only capable of weighing to 30lb.

"The weight was estimated at between 34lb and 36lb.

"At the time, it was thought to be one of the largest pike caught in the Upper Severn."

The huge fish was consigned to the sale by the person who caught it. However, the angler has not been named by the auctioneers. The auction's top sale was a set of 14 William IV mahogany dining chairs, which sold for £7,600 – three times the pre-sale estimate.

About 2,000 pieces of 18th Century Chinese export porcelain which were salvaged from the Ca Mau shipwreck off Vietnam attracted international interest as they sold for £16,000.

The blue and white porcelain sold in lots of between two and 51 pieces to collectors throughout the UK and Europe, with prices ranging from £450 to £150.