Rob GarrattOne collector's avid devotion to searching out the autographs of Hollywood greats is set to benefit a Norwich charity, thanks to a one-off donation by a mystery benefactor.Rob Garratt

One collector's avid devotion to searching out the autographs of Hollywood greats is set to benefit a Norwich charity, thanks to a one-off donation by a mystery benefactor.

Staff at the city charity shop were intrigued when an unknown visitor came in to drop off a box of old movie posters.

Upon closer inspection the volunteers discovered the bulk of the 70-poster collection had been signed by the Hollywood stars behind the hit films.

The unexpected goldmine included scrawled autographs from stars like Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Harrison Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

These autographs were found on vintage prints promoting hit films like Titanic, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Terminator 2, Rocky and both volumes of the Kill Bill saga.

Now the valuable and iconic items are going under the hammer to raise funds for the Norfolk and Norwich Scope Association (Nansa).

Auctioneer Gary Barnes, of Barnes' Auctioneers, said: 'I've been dealing in antiques and collectables for 30 years and its one of the finest collections of anything I've ever had in.

'The collection is simply remarkable. There's some things of real value here which I'm confident will raise a significant amount for the charity.

'We've had quite a lot of interest from collectors. Some of these posters sell online for four-figure sums and for a charity hoping to raise as much as possible an auction is a good bet.'

The auction takes place at Norwich's St Andrew's Hall on Thursday, at 2pm, with all funds going towards Nansa's Adult Work Centre in Bowthorpe Road.

Mystery surrounded the bounty's donation, which was dropped off at the charity's Furze Road shop in Thorpe St Andrew in the weeks before Christmas.

Staff say the unidentified donor was a middle-aged women who said the posters were her sons, but chose not to leave a name or telephone number.

Now the charity is appealing for the woman to come forward so they can send a letter of thanks, as it normally does for sizeable donations.