A Bristol charity shop sold nearly 100 porcelain dolls in a week after an anonymous donor handed in seven baskets full of the collectibles.

Geraldine Palmer, the manager of the PDSA shop in Wells Road, Knowle said the dolls have proved a huge success with customers, with 14 on average sold every day since they were handed in last week.

The donor told the shop she "had no use for them anymore" and presented the shop volunteers with baskets full of the porcelain dolls dressed in an array of outfits about three months ago.

Geraldine decided to bring the dolls out of storage and onto the shop floor last Tuesday.

When all the dolls are sold, the shop will have made just less then £300 for the charity that cares for sick and injured animals.

Geraldine, 57, said: "Somebody brought seven baskets of them in about three months ago. They just said they had no use for them anymore and wanted to get rid of them."

But this is not the first time this charity shop has been overflowing with porcelain dolls. Last year 120 of the toys were donated to the shop by another local.

These were not in as good a quality as the latest batch, but still made about £250 for the charity.

Geraldine, who lives in Upper Horfield and has worked at the shop for three years, said: "We started putting them out in the window last Tuesday and we keep having to refill the display. We just have about 20 left now.

"We've sold most for £2.49, and £2.99 for the nicer ones.

"People are loving them. They are very pretty. Grannies are buying them for their granddaughters.

"They attract people because they look so pretty in the window. Selling nearly 100 dolls in just a week is quite unusual for a small shop. Most are in very good condition, but some have their hats missing."

Some of the dolls are even in their original boxes with the marking 'Bala Venise. Hand-painted.Piera'.

One of the dolls, called Wendy, is wearing a dark green dress with a bonnet, and is holding a white feather in her hands. Another is wearing a flowery dress, glasses, and a bow in her hair. A third is a boy doll in a blue Arabic-style dress with black hair and brown eyes.

The shop, which has 16 volunteers, has also been handed a small matchbox-size autograph book containing the signatures of football players from teams, including Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, and German club Singen FC, in 1957. Geraldine said: "It almost went in the bin. It came in at the bottom of a bag of toys, so we didn't spot it immediately." The charity shop will be putting the book on eBay and are hoping a football expert will be able to shed some light on its valuable.