A cigar belonging to Winston Churchill has been found in a cupboard and is expected to sell for thousands of pounds at auction.

Auction house Burstow and Hewett is auctioning the historic smoke with an estimated price of up to £1,500 today.

The cigar is inscribed to Philip Parnell, who was an East Sussex man.

In 1950 Mr Parnell was called to Chartwell, Churchill’s main home in Westerham, Kent, to help with carpentry jobs.

Churchill – the grandfather of Mid Sussex MP Nicholas Soames – was so impressed with Mr Parnell’s work he requested that he attend Chartwell regularly.

He was even mentioned in Churchill’s biography and in the mid-1950s Churchill gave him the cigar and a signed photograph.

When Mr Parnell died, the date of which is not clear, they were given to his daughter. And after rediscovering them in a cupboard she has decided to auction them off.

They will be auctioned alongside a photograph, cigar box and signed book at the auction house in Lower Lake, Battle, near Hastings.

Similar items auctioned in New York have previously fetched around £1,000.

In 2010 a half-smoked cigar, abandoned when Sir Winston Churchill dashed away to an urgent wartime cabinet meeting, sold at auction for £4,500.

This cigar was picked up by a member of the Downing Street staff and had been expected to fetch £350.

Auctioneer Mark Ellin, from Burstow and Hewett, said: “It is a privilege to sell items of historic interest and the family link to Churchill gives this collection perfect provenance.”

The auction starts at 10am today.

Bidders can bid live during the sale via www.the-saleroom.com, in person or on the phone. Visit www.burstowandhewett.co.uk