Coldplay auction raises £150,000 for charity

An auction by chart stars Coldplay in which the band are selling anything from vintage guitars to mud-spattered wellies has so far made more than £150,000 for charity.

The sale still has several hours to run and could rake in a further £50,000, with one guitarist Jonny Buckland's Telecasters set to sell for in excess of £5,600.

The band decided to sell much of their stage equipment in an "end of decade clearout sale" to raise money for the Kids Company charity.

Some of the items - including Buckland's guitar - are still to be used on the band's Latin America leg of their Viva La Vida tour.

Other items which have featured in the sale have included frontman Chris Martin's first acoustic guitar which he bought in Exeter and took with him to university in London. His name, "Christopher AJ Martin", is written in Tipp-Ex on the back.

A Yamaha keyboard which had previously been owned by the Thompson Twins and Tindersticks has also been sold, as have the wellies the band wore when they played at Glastonbury in 2000.

The military-style outfits worn to promote album Viva La Vida are still on sale with two of them - Martin's and bass player Guy Berryman's attracting bids of more than £4,000.

The band said of the sale: "Over the past ten years we've accumulated a lot of guitars, keyboards, amps, posters, platinum discs and all sorts of nostalgia."

The sale began before Christmas and ends later today.

Kids Company helps vulnerable children and young people and currently supports 14,000 youngsters with their "practical and emotional needs".

A spokeswoman for the charity said: "The Coldplay auction is deeply significant to us and our ability to provide for the children. We will need to raise another £8m next year to continue our work."

The final figures from the sale will not be known until next week.