Sweep the dog and Soo the panda and was produced for the BBC from 1955 to 1967, later moving to ITV from 1968 to 1992. It is not the first Sooty puppet to have fetched such a sum at auction ...

Sooty has appeared ... after he bought the puppet from a stall in Blackpool for his son Matthew. The puppet went on to star in numerous TV shows, alongside friends Sweep and Soo.

It features the glove puppet characters Sooty, Sweep and Soo, and follows them in their many mischievous adventures. Learn with Sooty! was presented by Matthew Corbett.

The Sooty franchise is focused upon the adventures of Sooty, a fictional glove puppet character created by magician and puppeteer Harry Corbett in the 1950s, alongside his other friends Sweep and Soo.