FOR 35 years Joe Prenelle crisscrossed the country following his passion for collecting costumes of every conceivable type.

He acquired thousands of outfits, including some worn by stars of stage and screen, to stock his three Bazaar costume hire shops in Newcastle, Sunderland and Darlington. Now Joe, from Peterlee in County Durham, has retired at the age of 73 and has closed his remaining outlet in Sunderland.

Around 1,000 items from his collection will be sold on Saturday by Newcastle auctioneers Anderson & Garland.

The costumes span from Roman to Tudor, Georgian, to Victorian clothes.

The sale will include military uniforms, suits of armour, and costumes based on major films from the Wizard of Oz to Indiana Jones and Star Wars.

Also on offer are pirate hats and parrots and a pantomime two-man horse and camel.

Joe bought up the costumes used by North East clubland drag artiste Terry Durham.

Joe, who ran the business with his wife Doreen and son Joe, would attend opera, theatre, film studio, Militaria and general auction sales and even took in a Chipperfield’s circus sell-off.

The family would also make costumes and bring them back from holidays.