The handbag used by a 71-year-old vigilante to halt a jewellery theft could soon be available at auction. Retired market trader Ann Timson shot to fame earlier this month when she came out swinging as six men attempted to rob a jewellers in Northampton.

In an interview with NBC, Timson explained her son Andre was looking into auctioning the bag.

"Maybe we can give the funds to charity", she said. "If anybody wants to buy it, they are more than welcome".

Four men have since been charged following the raid.

Handbags are familiar items to the auction block and can make good investments if the price is right.

In 2009, convicted fraudster Bernard Madoff auctioned off his wife's handbag collection as part of a $2 million sale to recompense the 3,000 victims of his Ponzi scheme. Ruth Madoff's collection included handbags made by Prada, Jil Sander, Chanel, Judith Leiber and Louis Vuitton.

Celebrity handbags are especially popular with collectors. A handbag once owned by former Prime Minister Lady Thatcher made £103,000 at a 2004 sale. Her autograph is currently on sale for significantly less than that figure. 

Lady Thatcher was well known for her 'handbaggings' of cabinet members

Earlier this year, actress Sienna Miller donated her handbag to York-based mental health charity Our Celebration. The final price for the lambskin item, made by Katherine Kwei, is not publicly known. A few hundred pounds was expected, but if so the new owner gained a bargain, as it will likely sell for more in the future.