Keighley woman has beaten off worldwide bidders on an internet auction to buy a special trinket box, once owned by the late Princess Diana.

Debbie McLean, 34, bid £3,000 for the box, which was auctioned by the Hull Sailors Families' Society, an organisation supported by the Princess of Wales.

Debbie said: "I expected it to go for between £10,000 and £15,000. I'm amazed I got it. I think it's priceless.

"I believe it's a good investment which I will keep in the family.

"The bidding started at £300 and I thought, no chance, so I bid £,1000. It went to £1,500 and so I bid £2,000. It went to £2,500 and I put in £3,000. I think it was a bargain."

The trinket box, which is oval shaped and about four inches long, has the letter D on the top.

Debbie, who lives with her partner, fireman Michael Davis, 35, and plans to marry shortly, is not a collector of royal memorabilia, but recently bought a special edition gold coin to commemorate the Princess's death.

The box will join the limited edition Winnie the Pooh trinket box which Michael recently bought for her.

Bob Procter, fund raiser for the Hull Sailors Families' Society, which raises cash to support the children of deceased or disabled sailors, said the box was presented to the society by the Princess in 1995.

The intention was to auction it to raise money, but when she died, it was decided to postpone the sale as an act of respect, he explained.

It was then put into a draw at an event in Hull where it made £2,800 and the winner gave it back to the society.

"I then thought of the idea of auctioning it on the Internet. We are delighted with the result and we are further pleased that it attracted over 10,000 visitors to our website, both nationwide and worldwide."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.