PAINTINGS, rocking chairs and even fire hoses were all under scrutiny when the flog it! team came to town.Ipswich Corn Exchange was buzzing with people eager to find out the value of their treasures as they brought in clocks, paintings, vases and furniture to be valued by experts from the BBC2 show.

PAINTINGS, rocking chairs and even fire hoses were all under scrutiny when the flog it! team came to town.

Ipswich Corn Exchange was buzzing with people eager to find out the value of their treasures as they brought in clocks, paintings, vases and furniture to be valued by experts from the BBC2 show.

People queued throughout the day yesterday armed with antiques or unusual items such as a poster advertising a Marilyn Monroe look-alike competition at Felixstowe, brought in by George Irvine from Ipswich.

Gayle Simpson, for flog it!, said: "We have had hundreds of people already, a nice steady flow. We will probably be looking at 600 people by the time we had finished.

"Of some of the more unusual items was a huge decorative wooden rocking chair, which was really amazing, although I don't think it was worth very much in the end."

flog it! fans George, 74, and Renee Coleman, 72, came all the way from Kent to get their French reproduction Luis XIV clock and stand valued.

"We bought this about 40 odd years ago and had it valued at about £400 and £600 pounds, so were quite pleased." They decided to sell it because they don't have room for it at home.

Part time Suffolk fire fighter Aaron Tooke, 24, brought along some old fire hoses, which also belongs to his dad Colbin, of the Fire Service Preservation Group.

"My dad had a 1950's fire appliance and this is some of the stuff he kept hold of and passed on to me," he said. "This is probably worth not a lot, but is only a fraction of the complete collection."

Andy Grimwood, 37, from Colchester, was pleased with his valuation of a Herbert Thornley painting of a Whitby scene, worth between £1,600 and £2,000.

It was his grandmother's who had it in the attic when she died. "I don't know how it got to the family. I would have paid about £600 to £800 for it because it is a lovely picture," he said. "But it was a bit of a shock to find out how much it was worth."

He is reluctantly selling to pay for repairs for a grandfather clock.

flog it! presented by Paul Martin combines the traditional appeal of Antiques Roadshow with the knockout excitement of Bargain Hunt.

Once valued by the crack team the owner and experts decide whether it should go forward to auction.

If the item is chosen it is sold a couple of weeks later and hopefully makes a tidy profit for the owner.

Some of the contributors have had fantastic results. A lady who inherited a small cream jug had it valued by one of the experts at £200 to £300 and it sold for £1,300.