An armchair Winston Churchill claimed as his own during visits to Harrow School is to be auctioned off.

The piece of furniture, which became known as 'Winston Churchill's Chair', is expected to fetch around £500.

An early 20th century, pale green wingback armchair with tapered legs, it used to sit in the headmaster's office at the world-renowned public school.

Churchill himself studied there between 1888 and 1892 and it was somewhere he returned to throughout his adult life.

The owner is a relative of gifted academic Ralph Westwood Moore, who became headmaster of Harrow in 1942 aged just 36.

He died of lung cancer at 47 and famously refused to 'leave his post' at the school in spite of his ill-health.

The relative, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: "Churchill, a former pupil, used to visit [Ralph Westwood Moore] two or three times a year during the Second World War years.

"They were great friends. The chair was in the headmaster's study and Churchill always sat in it so it became known as 'Winston Churchill's chair'. He used to call it 'my chair'."

The chair made its way to Derbyshire in the 1950s, where it has remained ever since.

It is set to be sold by Hansons Auctioneers on December 20 and owner Charles Hanson believes it would make the perfect purchase for history buffs and armchair aficionados alike.

He said: "Anyone with a passion for history would surely want to sink into Winston's Churchill's armchair.

"The British statesman, army officer and writer served as the UK's prime minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. He led Britain to victory in the Second World War.

"Named the Greatest Briton of all time in a 2002 poll, Churchill is among the most influential people in UK history.

"As a writer, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his overall lifetime body of work. His complex legacy continues to stimulate intense debate among writers and historians.

"He was a man renowned for his inspirational quotes which include, 'Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection'.

"I imagine there must be many people, not just in the UK but all over the world, who this Christmas would like to reflect on 2017 while sitting in the comfort of this very special chair."

Lot 1662 will be sold at Hansons Auctioneers, Heage Lane, Etwall, Derbyshire on December 20.

To find out more, email erycroft@hansonsauctioneers.co.uk or call 01283 733 988.