£5m tag on private collection of Lowry artworks for sale

The works, owned by bookmaking tycoon Selwyn Demmy, are said by auction house Christie's to be "the most important and extensive to be offered at auction in recent memory".

The collection of drawings and paintings includes landscapes and seascapes as well as Lowry's renowned industrial city depictions, spanning from the 1920s to the 1960s.

Mr Demmy started off his collection of works by Laurence Stephen Lowry in the early 1990s.

He said: "I was born around the corner from LS Lowry, in Cheetham Hill, and am a Salford man born and bred.

"For me, the works of Lowry have a very powerful personal resonance as they capture the heart and soul of the people and landscape which I have loved and lived in all my life.

"This collection of 21 paintings and drawings has brought me huge pleasure over the years.

"Art is not my only passion however and, as many know, I have been committed to improving the lives of destitute animals for many years.

"It is now time for these wonderful art works to bring joy, contemplation and friendship to new homes, whilst I focus my full attention on the animals which, like the famous and beloved stick dogs that scamper throughout Lowry's paintings, bring me great happiness."

Estimates for the works range from 10,000 to 700,000.

Mr Demmy's collection began with two pencil drawings; the early House on Botany, Clifton, 1926, estimated at 15,000 to 20,000, and the landscape Parton, Cumberland, 1956, expected to raise 15,000 to 20,000.

They were quickly added to by Mr Demmy's long-standing favourite in the collection and one of the stars of the sale – the 1945 panoramic canvas titled The Playground, expected to raise 500,000 to 700,000.

The Christie's sale takes place in London on November 11.