WHILE clearing out a warehouse full of hair salon equipment, Lincoln businessman Patrick Slight mainly expected to find old rubbish.

But, hidden among the stock, an unusual pop culture curio lay undisturbed beneath a large sheet.

In 1963, four young musicians stepped into a Liverpool barbers and walked out with a haircut that influenced style across the world.

And now, one of a trio of barber's chairs in which Beatles John, Paul, George and Ringo are believed to have gained their iconic mop-tops has been brought to Lincolnshire.

But boys and girls who want a ticket to ride the almost 90-year- old piece of furniture might need to re-mortgage their yellow submarines with auctioneers expecting it to fetch up to £10,000.

Mr Slight, co-owner of the Salon Center in Lincoln's Allenby Industrial Estate, said he initially didn't realise what he had found.

He said: "We deal in new and used salon furniture and agreed to clear a warehouse in Liverpool.

"The chair was in a corner, covered up.

"We knew we had to take the good with the bad and, at the time, I thought it was part of the bad.

"I knew it was old, but I didn't know the significance until I got it back to Lincoln and looked at it properly.

"It had photographs of the Beatles and news clippings attached to the seat.

"I rang an auctioneers in London and their expert said, if it was what we thought it was, it was a seat made in San Francisco in 1923.

"It was imported to England in 1925 and it went to Horne Brothers in Lord Street, Liverpool."

Three chairs were installed in the barbers, one of which lacked a headrest.

On March 25, 1963, the Beatles visited and, inspired by their artist friends in Hamburg, swapped their 1950s hairstyles for their more familiar cuts.

"The auctioneer suggested it could be worth up to £10,000," said Mr Slight. "We've never had anything that valuable before."

The business owner now hopes to put the chair in a specialist pop culture sale in London, rather than keeping it for his showroom.

But Beatles expert Paul Wane, of memorabilia experts Tracks, said Mr Slight may leave disappointed.

"I think the connection is a bit thin myself," he said.

"There's two reasons – the chair is difficult to authenticate and the link is not as strong as, say, a distinctly patterned shirt that John Lennon wore.

"There is a market for Beatles memorabilia, but the other two chairs in the set came up for auction last year and failed to sell."