Rings tickets fetch £4,200

Makers of Lord Of The Rings have raised thousands of pounds by selling a pair of tickets for the film's world premiere on the internet.

Two tickets for the screening in Leicester Square next Monday sold on the Web for £4,238 - with all proceeds going to New Line Cinema. They were finally snapped up yesterday on auction site EBay.co.uk after bidding began at 70p more than a week ago.

The Fellowship Of The Ring is the first of the trilogy by JRR Tolkein. It was shot largely in New Zealand and stars Elijah Wood, Sean Bean, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler and Cate Blanchett.

A spokesman for the internet site said: "This shows how popular the film is. All the proceeds from the sale go to New Line, which made the film. It's not a charity auction."

Fans of the series are also being given the chance to see their their name immortalised on the end credits of the DVD version of the film - for £28.