Buy the Fred Scuttle beret...

Benny Hill’s ‘Fred Scuttle’ beret and glasses are to go under the auctioneer’s hammer next month.

The memorabilia is to be sold by Aldridge & Son auction house in Devizes on August 15 along with a fan letter Hill was sent from Bilko star Phil Silvers.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said: ‘Benny Hill was a British great and we are delighted to be able to offer items associated with Fred Scuttle.’

Also going under the hammer is a love letter Peter Sellers wrote to his second wife Britt Ekland in 1964, which reveals the comedian’s anxiety at marrying a much younger woman.

He wrote: ‘I love you desperately and think you are so absolutely wonderful in every way that I find it very difficult to understand why you married me.’

The couple divorced in four years later.

The letter is expected to fetch up to £2,500 in the sale in Devizes, Wiltshire, on Saturday August 15.

Aldridge told ThisIsWiltshire: ‘The letter from Peter Sellers is quite extraordinary in what it reveals about his relationship with Miss Ekland. I think it is a very important artefact in showbusiness history.’

Published: 31 Jul 2009