Drumming up bids for a piece of Olympic dream

Room for a gigantic piano used by Gary Barlow in your living room? Perhaps a flag waved by the Suffragettes might look good on your mantelpiece.

Or maybe what your home has really been missing all this time is a bed once slept in by a sporting hero.

Because from props used by pop legends Take That to furniture, technology and items used in the opening and closing ceremonies, a slice of the Olympics is up for grabs at two huge auctions.

More than 70 lorries of memorabilia, furniture and equipment from the London 2012 games has been transported to a 66,000sq ft warehouse in Wednesbury.

Inside is an amazing treasure trove of just about everything that helped stage one of the greatest Games ever known.

The sale is being staged by BFC Furniture Outlet with the first events to be held next Wednesday and Thursday at its premises in Bull Lane.

Another event is planned to take place on February 27 and 28 – with around 3,000 lots up for grabs in all.

The auctions will take place from 11am to 5pm on all days due to the sheer number of lots.

All of the items on sale have been purchased by the company, which is run by 59-year-old businessman Jim Cassidy, from Bloxwich.

Today he told how he managed to get possession of the collossal lot.

"It all came about purely by recommendation," he said.

"A friend of mine gave me a ring and told me there were items from the Olympics I may be interested in being stored at the logisitics centres in Tilbury and Stevenage.

"Both of the centres had to be cleared by a certain time but there was so much stuff those carrying out the work were having real difficulty doing it.

"There was also another company which was selling items online but even with that the stuff was still not being moved out in time."

Mr Cassidy said he had met with officials from the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and struck a deal to purchase the items. He said it had been a "logistical nightmare" moving all of the items to the company's headquarters in Wednesbury.

Because there is so much some of the items are being stored at another warehouse owned by the firm.

All of the lots in the auction are from the Olympic Village, along with other venues and both the public and VIP areas used during the games.

It includes props used by Take That during their performance at the closing ceremony, watched by 24.5million, the most-watched show in three decades.

The items were also used during the group's Progress Tour in 2011 and include a large model keyboard played by Gary Barlow.

Drums, stands and other props, including large Alice in Wonderland-style clocks and drinking vessels used by the band during their performance are also included in the lots.

There are also 200 safes, which were used by the Olympic and Paralympic athletes to store their valuables during the games.

When they arrived at the warehouse only five of them were open and bosses from the furniture firm had to employ a professional locksmith to get them open.

Flags used during the Suffragette section of the opening ceremony can also be purchased alongside a selection of flags also used to launch the event.

And small banners sent in by children from across the UK and countries around the globe are among the lots – including one bearing a good luck message from youngsters in Australia.

There are also beds, some of them new but others used by athletes during the games, along with mattresses, wardrobes and other items of furniture like bookcases, coffee tables, fridges, dishwashers and washing machines. Sports fans can even buy locks used by the competitors to secure their laptop computers.

And companies interested in owning a more practical piece of the Olympics can even bid for one of 150 pallet trucks used to transport items during the games.

Other lots include high visibility jackets, hard hats, floodlights and even radios and long-range cables.

Large banners, parasols and clothing bearing the distinctive London 2012 logo and lettering are also up for grabs for those looking to have a lasting souvenir of the event.

Mr Cassidy said securing the items had been a real coup for the company.

"This is a little piece of history and I am glad people will have the chance to buy it."