A national newspaper front page documenting the Titanic tragedy has just been sold at auction.

The Daily Mirror front page dated April 20, 1912, was found during a house clearance in a wardrobe in Lichfield, Staffordshire, where it had lain out of sunlight for 112 years.

The British ocean liner, which sailed from Southampton, sank on April 15 after hitting an iceberg on her maiden voyage to New York.

Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers, said: “The paper has survived thanks to our elderly client’s grandmother.

“She kept newspapers marking major events such as the coronation of King George V in 1911 as well as the sinking of the Titanic.

“Over eight pages of sombre sadness, The Daily Mirror details the tragedy and ship’s heroes. They did their utmost to save the lives of women first while accepting their fate with dignity. It’s a valuable piece of social history.” 

Of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, 1,496 died, making the incident the deadliest sinking of a single ship at the time

The paper referenced the families anxiously waiting to learn if their relatives had survived the tragedy.The newspaper has now been sold for £34.