Mystery Eastern European buyer snaps up the world's WORST waxworks - but what will the Czechs make of Sam Fox and Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards?
- More than 150 terrible waxworks have entertained visitors to Louis
- Tussauds House of Wax in Great Yarmouth for six decades
- Museum closed in 2012 thanks to ill health of elderly owners
- Now a buyer from the Czech Republic has snapped up the famous exhibits
- Collection thought to have cost £7,500 to £12,000 based on auction prices
A collection of the world's worst waxworks has been sold to a mystery buyer from the Czech Republic.
The anonymous purchaser is now the proud owner of more than 150 mis-shapen models of celebrities which once lived in the Louis Tussauds House of Wax museum in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
The figures - which represent both megastars such as David Beckham and minor celebrities like Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards - cost £1,000 each to make.
It is not known exactly how much they were bought for, but it is thought that they were worth up to £12,000 based on previous auction estimates.
The museum, run by Jane Hayes, 83, and her 86-year-old husband Peter Hayes, became a cult destination thanks to its bizarre exhibits but closed down in 2012 when the owner became ill.
After selling the waxworks to an unidentified Czech collector, the couple have now put the Victorian building on the market for £375,000.
They ran the museum together for 58 years, and lived a flat above but now plan to move out.
A neighbour said: 'I heard that they were all snapped up in one big job lot - possibly for another museum or a tourist attraction.
'All the models will need a bit of a makeover because most of them are very old. Maybe they will be recycled to become personalities in the Czech Republic!'
The waxworks were scheduled to go up for auction in 2008, with a guide price of £50 to £80 - giving the 150 items a total estimated value of £7,500 to £12,000.
The former museum, built in the mid-19th century as a doctor's house, is now up for sale with Howards Estate Agents.
A listing on the firm's website states: 'The property comprises a substantial building - 608sq/m - which was until recently used as a waxworks museum.
'The property also includes owner's private living accommodation, a pair of kiosks to the front which provide additional income and an enclosed rear yard area with parking beyond.'
An answerphone message at the House of Wax says: 'Thank you for calling. Louis Tussauds House of Wax is now permanently closed.'
Local councillor Michael Jeal, cabinet member for tourism, said he was sad about the loss of the cult museum and its potential conversion into a home.
'Any loss of tourist attractions is a blow,' he said. 'We don't want to be losing attractions near the seafront or anywhere in these times of austerity.'
Mr and Mrs Hayes were granted planning permission to turn the museum into a home in December 2012.
They said they had been hit by rising costs and reduced income, and had been unable to find a replacement for their wax modeller after he retired several years ago.
The museum was named after the great grandson of Madame Tussaud, founder of the iconic waxworks museum in London in 1835.
Mr Hayes admitted in 2008 that some of his models were no longer recognisable.
He said: 'Some of them are too old and they do not resemble their subjects any more and obviously some visitors are far too young to remember them.'
In Yarmouth’s heyday in the 1960s, visitors had to queue to get in and went round the exhibition in lines of up to four abreast, he added.