A PERSONALISED Bolton number plate has sold for £5,500 at auction — more than five times its reserve!

The one-off registration number BO11 TON was sold to a lucky bidder called Mr Bolton.

In a tense bid-off, Reuben Bolton managed to secure the number plate at yesterday's auction with phone bids from his base in Ipswich.

Mr Bolton, aged 40, collects personalised plates to complement his family-run recycling and waste management business, called Bolton Brothers.

His latest purchase will add to his 30 other plates.

He said: “I’m really pleased with it.

“The closest I’ve got to a Bolton registration is with 801 TON which I bought a few years ago.”

Mr Bolton will have to pay a total of £7,208 with VAT, buyers' premium and assignment fees.

Personalised registration manager Damian Lawson, from the DVLA, said: “It’s a unique plate if you’re either from Bolton, a Bolton Wanderers football fan or you have the same name, like the buyer. There was a lot of interest in it.”

The Bolton plate was among 1,500 others to go under the hammer at the DVLA three-day auction in Leeds.

And BO11 TON was one of five plates resembling English town names, including DU12 HAM, HA11 FAX and HU11 CTY.