A photo album containing images showing a horrific fire in Hong Kong which took place more than 100 years ago has sold at auction for ten times the estimated price.

A bargain hunter had bought the old photo album at a car boot sale in Sussex for just 50p, but the images ended up selling for for £4,000.

The album contains 20 rare black and white photos depicting the Happy Valley Racecourse fire in 1918, which resulted in the deaths of more than 600 people.

The album contains 20 photos depicting the Happy Valley derby fire in 1918, one of the worst disasters in Hong Kong's history

The deadly fire resulted in the deaths of more than 600 people who were on a day out at the races

The owner was stunned when expert Lazarus Halstead of Chiswick Auctions, west London, gave the item an estimate of £400.

But after fierce bidding the album sold for ten times the estimate to a collector based in Hong Kong.

The tragedy is seen as an important part of Hong Kong and China's history and not many photos exist of it.

The Happy Valley Racecourse was built on swampland in 1845 to provide horse racing for British people in Hong Kong, and then became more and more popular with Chinese residents.

The derby race was held annually every February. On February 26, 1918, a temporary grandstand built to accommodate extra spectators collapsed on top of 3,000 people.

The lucky punter who bought the 100-year-old photo album only paid 50p for the rare pictures at a car boot sale

Photos show plumes of smoke rising high into the air as vast crowds struggled to get away from the disaster

The collapse then knocked over food stalls, which set bamboo matting ablaze.

It is thought a total of 614 people died and the official inquiry concluded that elementary safety and fire precautions had never been taken.

The album is believed to be one of a small number of official keepsakes created in memory of the horrifying event in Hong Kong's history.

The photos show a thick cloud of billowing smoke and hundreds of people fleeing the scene.

Mr Halstead said: 'The seller goes to car boot sales all the time looking for bargains. He bought this album fairly recently at a car boot sale in Sussex.

'He didn't have a clue what it was really, but thought he couldn't go wrong for 50p.

The enthusiastic car booter, who has not been named, had no idea what he had bought and took it into London-based Chiswick Auctions

The album is believed to be one of a small number of official keepsakes created in memory of the horrifying event

After fierce bidding the photographs sold for ten times the estimate to a collector based in Hong Kong

'He brought in a bag of things and this was the last thing he pulled out of his bag and said 'I don't know if this is anything'.

'There is huge demand for photographs from mainland China and Hong Kong.

'We have a great track record of selling old photos from the Far East and this was a well-known event in the history of Hong Kong so I thought it might do well.

'These are original photographs but it's an album that was officially printed as a keepsake to mark the event so there would have been more than one of these made, although we think in quite small numbers.

'The seller was flabbergasted when I told him the estimate of £400-600 so for it to go for ten times is a huge result.

'I called him to tell him and he was blown away.

'The collector who bought them is based in Hong Kong and obviously wanted to essentially own a piece of Hong Kong history, which is what the album represents.'