John Lennon's Liverpool home sold for £480,000

The guide price for the Wavertree property was just £150,000

John Lennon's childhood home in Wavertree, Liverpool, has sold for £480,000 (PA)

The house where John Lennon lived as a child has sold for almost half a million pounds, far exceeding the £150,000 guide price for the property.

The Beatles singer and songwriter lived in 9 Newcastle Road in Wavertree, Liverpool, from his birth in 1940 until he was five years old.

The red brick, terraced house was sold to an anonymous American fan for £480,000 at an auction in Liverpool's iconic Cavern Club, where The Beatles played in their early years.

Andrew Brown, managing director of auctioneer Countrywide Property, said: "There was a lot of interest in the property before the auction from potential buyers who lived in the UK and internationally.

"The auction was very exciting with a number of keen buyers bidding for the property and we are delighted to have sold such an iconic piece of The Beatles and Liverpool's history."

The small property that is a stone's through away from Penny Lane, the namesake of the famous Beatles track.

The dwelling includes a lounge, an upstairs family bathroom, sitting room, family room, and a kitchen which leads to a walled back garden, and is modest in comparison to the country house in Ascot, Berkshire, where Lennon later lived with his wife, the artist Yoko Ono.

Lennon said of his former home: "I lived in 9 Newcastle Road. I was born on the 9 of October. It's just a number that follows me around."

The previous owner told the Liverpool Echo: "I have made sure original features have been preserved so that they reflect the 1960s period, when the Beatles wowed the whole world with their rock and roll music."

Mendips, on Menlove Avenue in Woolton where Lennon lived from the age of five to 23, was last year given Grade II listed status by English Heritage.