Brighton: Shaun the Sheep trail raises £750,000 for Martlets

Some 11,000 people took part in the trail, venturing across Brighton and Hove to spot all 120 sculptures, which went on show in public spaces in September.

Last night hundreds of people gathered at the newly restored Brighton Dome Corn Exchange for the grand auction of 45 of the  individually decorated sheep.

A small Shaun being showcased by the auctioneer (Image: Liz Finlayson / Vervate)

The bids poured in as people vied to take home one of the models. One generous buyer paid £25,000, the highest price of the night, for Bloom, which was painted by artist Faye Bridgewater.

George Fox's Modern Mechanics sheep sold for £14,000 and Tina Davies's Shaun of the Rewilding went for £24,000.

Eight little Shauns were up for grabs, to be personalised for £5,000 each. These raised £40,000.

Faye Bridgwater's Bloom (Image: Shaun by the Sea)

The funds raised will help Hove hospice charity Martlets continue its work caring for people suffering from terminal illness.

Martlets director of income generation Tanya Hunt said: “We’ve been blown away by the success of the Shaun the Sheep auction.

Read more: More than £700,000 as Shaun the Sheep sculptures sold at auction

"We knew there was a lot of affection for the sculptures but to raise this much is incredible. Every penny raised will support us to keep caring and helping people do what they love with the time they have.”

The Shaun by the Sea trail was the most popular to date. The trail app was downloaded more than 11,000 times, with thousands of people ticking off the sculptures they spotted and winning rewards from different locations.

This £385,000 raised at auction is on top of £44,000 raised from tickets sales over the farewell weekend from 6,750 visitors, plus donations since the start of the project and sale of merchandise, bringing the grand total to £750,602.