A HAMPSHIRE man got so fed up with picking up his son's odd socks at home that he decided to put them up for sale.

The number of single socks littering Mark Wilks' home annoyed him so much that he gathered them up and put them up for sale on Internet auction site eBay.

Mark, 37, chose £1 as the guide price but a bidding war erupted between three potential purchasers and the socks reached the giddy heights of £5.50.

Now Mark will have to cut into his profit by splashing out £1.10 to post the socks to the buyer, from Portsmouth.

Mark, of Petersfield Road, Cheriton, said he was racking his brains to think of a use for the 21 socks.

"Perhaps he's only got one leg. They could last a lifetime," he said.

Mark said he got fed up finding single socks around the house, with many dropped by his son, Sebastian, 12.

"I just did it as a joke. I never thought they would sell," he said. "I got an e-mail from a man who said he was going to buy a present for his wife. He said she's very religious - have you any holey ones?"

Meanwhile a photograph of the Tesco carrier bag auctioned by Southampton man Jamie Green for £4.39 has sold on eBay for £15.03.

The carrier bag, from Tesco in Tebourba Way, Millbrook, gained cult status among bidders using the site when Mr Green, of Crabwood Road, Maybush, put it up for sale "for fun".

The sale attracted more than 2,000 hits and after it was bought by a London buyer, Mr Green took a photograph of the bag, wrote 'best wishes, carrier bag' on it and put the photograph up for sale.

It attracted thousands of hits and was sold on the auction site for £15.03. Mr Green has promised to donate the money to charity.