TROWBRIDGE Mayor Dennis Drewett was upset and deflated after absolutely no-one turned up for his charity auction on Saturday evening (November 3).

The Mayor had spent weeks organising the fundraising event at the Anchor & Hope pub on Frome Road.

Among the highlights of the auction were to be two lots related to the world-famous Manchester United Football Club, which he had hoped would raise good sums for his Mayoral charities, the Bath Cancer Unit Support Group. TCAF, Biss Meadows Country Park ansd Friends of The Down Cemetery.

They included a Manchester United shirt signed by all the players who took part in their first game against Middlesborough in the year 2000 and a training top signed by England captain David Beckham when he played in midfield for the club.

Many of the items were gifts from Ady Taylor, the landlord of the Anchor & Hope where the auction was due to take place.

They included football and rugby scarves, rugby shirts, baseball caps, framed photographs of soccer stars and signed boxing gloves.

Cllr Drewett, who was due to host the evening with Trowbridge Town Crier Trevor Heeks, said: “It was a bit of a flop.

“Everything was set up and ready to go but no-one turned up. There were about 12 people in the pub but when we spoke to them we found they weren’t there for the auction.

“We spent weeks organising the auction and advertised it on the Trowbridge Town Council website and on Facebook.

“It’s very sad. We’ll now have to find another way of raising the money. We’re thinking of putting the signed shirts up for auction at the Trowbridge Civic Dinner in March.”

Mr Taylor, said: “The items have been gathering dust in my office upstairs for years.

“No-one was getting any pleasure or benefit from them and when Dennis asked me to help, I decided to give them to him for the auction.”

Cllr Drewett had intended to auction them to raise funds for the mayor’s charities for this year.

So far, Cllr Drewett has raised just £34 for his fund by selling some of the items, such as a Bath RFC rugby shirt, to friends who saw them laid out on his front room floor while he was preparing for the auction.

He added: “We’re going to have to look at things and decide what to do.

“I was more embarrassed for Ady Taylor than anyone else.”