A picture of Che Guevara game fishing fetched £6,600

Rare and intimate photographs taken of the leaders of the Cuban revolution during its early years have sold for £31,730 at auction in Gloucestershire.

The 14 black-and-white photos include images of President Fidel Castro and fellow communist leader Che Guevara.

Dating from 1959 to the early 1960s, 12 were taken by Mr Castro's official photographer Alberto Korda.

The prize lot, a picture of Mr Guevara game fishing, fetched £6,600 at Dominic Winter Auctioneers, in Cirencester.

The collection sold for nearly £26,000 more than was estimated, a spokesman for the auctioneers said.

A picture of Fidel Castro playing golf fetched £3,400

The photo of Mr Guevara fishing was bought by a UK-based private collector who spent almost £18,000 in total - including £3,400 on a picture of Mr Castro playing golf.

A photograph of three tanks passing a huge poster of Mr Guevara sold for 20 times more than its predicted price.

The auction house said it was "inundated" with phone line requests from collectors all over Europe during the auction on Thursday.

The 1959 Cuban Revolution transformed the Caribbean island into a communist state.