A VINYL record that has been discovered on the shelves of a charity shop in Thornbury for £1.99, has been valued at more than £2,000.

The record, by English cellist Jacqueline Du Pré, had been sitting on the shelf of Oxfam in Thornbury for several months before the discovery was made, while staff had begun the practice of putting items up for sale online.

Volunteer Lois Linter, who worked out the value while researching stock in the shop, said she could not believe it when she saw how much it was worth and began shouting “Gold dust! Gold dust!” to the shop’s manager Gail Whitehead before sharing the good news.

The find, a rare version of the classical music record on a particular kind of vinyl, has since been verified by the team at Oxfam, with the record set to go up for sale online.

Despite a short career, passing away in 1987 at the age of 42 having been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, forcing her to stop performing at the age of 27, Ms Du Pré is regarded as one of the most distinctive cellists of the second half of the twentieth century.

“When Lois told me that the record was worth £2,000 I was gobsmacked,” said Mrs Whitehead, “but to be perfectly honest, I must say didn’t know who Jacqueline Du Pré was.

“However, since finding out how much it was worth, I have looked her up and she sounds like a fascinating lady.”

“The important thing however is that this amount of money will do a lot for causes Oxfam are involved with.

“Whether it is for mosquito nets, water or paying wages, it will make one hell of a difference!

“I wish we knew who the donor was as it would be lovely to say thank you on behalf of Oxfam.

Oxfam is celebrating running for 75 years this week and Ms Whitehead said that she was happy the Thornbury shop, which is the charity’s only one in South Gloucestershire, could have such a surprise to help celebrate with.

“I think the record had been on the shelf for quite a while, quite a few months in fact, so it was all down to the fact we have started this new system that we were about to discover the record.

“Since we have gone online, we have raised around £2,000 selling things we normally couldn’t sell in the shop, so we are very excited to keep that going.”