A massive collection of military vehicles painstakingly amassed over the years by Lancashire property developer Brian Boys will go under the hammer at the end of next month.

Mr Boys has decided to hold on to a few particular favourites, but the entire remainder of his stunning collection – valued at more than a million pounds – will be up for auction, including battle tanks, a rare Sexton self propelled gun, armoured personnel carriers and armoured cars. Alongside such big beasts are many smaller vehicles, such as field guns, motorbikes and jeeps. There is even a Ford Model T Fire Engine, which is believed to have once belonged to movie legend Charlie Chaplin. In total, some 150 items will be available for purchase.

The property developer, who is chairman of property developers B&E Boys, said that he started off collecting Dinky Toys as a boy and after some time in the army, matured into a desire to own the real thing. Over the past few decades he has attended scores of military fairs and obtained other vehicles from private collections.

However, Mr Boys has made the difficult decision to sell the collection due to retirement, although he has admitted that “it’s given me the opportunity to make lots of friends worldwide and I shall miss that camaraderie.”

The auction will take place on 28-29 June at the Manchester office of plant and machinery auctioneers Sanderson Weatherall. Bids of up to £100,000 are thought to be likely, and online bidding facilities will be available for any interested parties who are unable to make it in person on the days in question.

The company’s auction manager Stephen Jepson commented: “”This is one of the largest private collections of such vehicles in the whole of the UK and its sale represents a fantastic opportunity for people to invest in the military heritage of this and other nations.”