A FORMER car salesman turned funeral celebrant is auctioning off an "Aladdin's cave" of football memorabilia to raise money for Bradford's burn unit.

Kevin Mitchell sold cars for more than 30 years, most recently at Stanley Cars on Canal Road, but last year had a complete career change.

The 62-year-old is now an independent civil funeral celebrant and through his new line of work came across the giant stack of sporting collectables, including hundreds of books and programmes, which he saved from a possible trip to the tip.

He said the change of direction was one of the best decisions he had ever made and allowed him to indulge his passion for talking to people and writing, as well as leading to the discovery of the hidden sporting gems.

Earlier this month Mr Mitchell oversaw the funeral of Gerald Mayes, who had no relatives and died at a care home in Cottingley. Mr Mayes' vast collection was found when staff started clearing his room.

"The care manager didn't know what to do with all this memorabilia. As a football fan, I said, 'I'd love to buy them off you', but it would have been unethical to buy them and then sell them on to make a profit," said Mr Mitchell, of Drub Lane, Cleckheaton.

Instead, the first £200 of money raised will pay for a memorial bench in Mr Mayes' name. The remainder will be split between the Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit (PSBRU), which was set up after Bradford City Football Club's 1985 fire disaster, and Cleckheaton Cricket Club, where Mr Mitchell is a committee member.

"There are about 600 books, mainly football though there are some cricket ones too. It took me and a pal four hours to empty the room of them.

"There's some wonderful books there, it's like an Aladdin's cave."

Mr Mayes was a Bradford City fan who also followed Burnely and the collection represents his love of both. The stash also includes FA Cup programmes from the 1950s and 1960s and 58 Manchester United programmes from the same period.

Mr Mitchell has done his research and estimates the items are worth between £2 and £50 each.

Some of the lots are currently on sale on eBay and 600 books and programmes, worth around £1,400, will be up for auction on Thursday, May 7 at Cleckheaton Sports Club, Moorend, from 7.30pm.

This year marks three decades since the Bradford City stadium fire disaster of May 11, 1985, when 56 people died and almost 300 more were injured.

As part of the anniversary commemorations the club hopes to raise £300,000 for the PSBRU.

The plastic surgery department at Bradford Royal Infirmary was instrumental in saving the lives of hundreds of people in the aftermath of the tragedy and its work led to the development of the university's research unit.