The Stig's helmet fetches £3,400 at Lewes auction

Mrs Vaizey said she was selling the helmet to help with the cost of buying a house

A white racing helmet worn by The Stig on BBC's Top Gear has fetched £3,400 at auction in East Sussex.

It was sold by Sophia Vaizey, 30, from Hove, who worked on the show for 18 months as a production co-ordinator, and received it as a leaving present.

The helmet was signed by The Stig, who wore it between 2002 and 2005, presenter Richard Hammond and the crew.

It had a guide price of £1,200 but went for almost three times as much to a private buyer.

Mrs Vaizey said: "The Stig wore (it) on the show for quite a while.

"He then got a new one for safety reasons, so it got stored away in the Top Gear office.

"I was quite surprised when they gave it to me but also I felt honoured."

She said the helmet had been kept at her mother's home but now she wanted to sell it to raise money to buy a house.

The BBC took legal action to block publication by HarperCollins of an autobiography which unmasked racing driver Ben Collins as the show's mystery driver.

The helmet was sold at Gorringes Auctioneers in Lewes on Wednesday.