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A giant wrecking ball on which supermodel Naomi Campbell once sat astride in an iconic car advert, a mini yellow submarine and a door reputedly from one of the nation’s most imposing prisons are among items going under the hammer this week following the closure of two of Mansfield and Sutton’s most eccentric shops.

The wrecking ball, submarine and door were among a mind-blowing collection of stuff used to “decorate” the premises of TMB Vape Lab, which had stores in Sutton and Mansfield.

The firm ceased trading last month and the liquidators handling the winding up of the business have now instructed auctioneers Eddisons to dispose of the contents of the two shops, including fixtures, fittings, vape stocks – and the hoard of treasures.

Paul Cooper, Eddisons director, said: “We were warned there was some unusual stuff heading our way, but were amazed by what came out of the fleet of delivery vehicles that arrived at our auction centre in Scunthorpe.

Auctioneer Paul Cooper with the mini submarine

“The miniature submarine was a particular highlight of course, the first submarine we’ve ever had for auction. It’s a remotely operated craft, developed by the French company ECA in the early 1970s for mine detection.

“Royal Navy minehunters were equipped with these ‘Poisson Auto-Propulses’ – self-propelled fish – and they sold off a number of them when their working days were over, which is how one ended up in a Nottinghamshire vape shop.”

“The wrecking ball is the prop used in a famous Vauxhall advert back in the early 1990s. The carmaker wanted to highlight the fact its new Corsa had side impact bars and what better way to get everyone’s attention than to have supermodel Naomi Campbell photographed riding a giant iron ball being swung at the little car?

Full list of coronation street party road closures in Mansfield and Ashfield

David Phillips (left) and Adam Martin with Naomi Campbell's demolition wrecking ball

“Despite its realistic appearance, the giant ball on which Naomi was perched is actually made of composite material rather than iron, but it is quite amusing to see one of the auction centre lads casually moving something that you would expect to weigh as much as five tons.

“The vintage prison door is reputed to have come from Leicester, one of the most impressive-looking jails in the country, built in a castle style, with 30-feet perimeter walls, the highest in the country.

"The prison has been enlarged and changed numerous times over the past two centuries and historically it was not unusual for items to be sold off or salvaged when such work was being done so it could well be from there.”

“Other unlikely things that came out of the two vape shops include church windows, life-size model carol singers, items of fairground memorabilia, a Halloween skeleton, ancient stable doors, antique cash registers and even some of the lights that once illuminated sets in Carlton Television’s Nottingham studios, not to mention a 1980 Honda motorcycle that arrived as a pile of bits on a pallet – and I could go on.”

The life-size carol singers from one of the shops

“I gather the idea was to give the shops a quirky edge and the collection just kept on growing

A total of 128 lots are going under the hammer in the online auction that ends at 1am on Wednesday, April 26.

The full auction catalogue is available here.

Mini submarine and wrecking ball Naomi Campbell rode on among amazing pieces from Mansfield and Sutton vape shops going under the hammer