AN antiques house that opened in Taunton just last month is in a race against time to expand its saleroom.

AFS Auctions Ltd, which received an official seal of approval when its first sale was launched by Taunton Mayor Cllr Nick O'Donnell, is preparing to get everything ready before its next auction at its Silver Street base next Wednesday (February 21).

Owners Vincent Page and Lesley White said in a joint statement: "While the endless stream of goods being brought in through the doors of sister company Antiques on High continues to increase, we have realised very quickly that they were going to need more space to accommodate the stream of fascinating goods that have been brought into the saleroom on almost a daily basis from the predictable antiques to the outrageous and quirky items."

With the closing date for entries for this month’s auction today (Monday, February 12), the couple have added a new online platform Bidspirit to the current Easy Live Auction in a bid to make things easier for clients around the world to bid and to broaden the appeal.

The company's tech guru will be in the room on the day to ensure things run smoothly and there are no glitches.

With just over 100 people logged in for the first auction, the couple are anticipating it will increase the number of online bidders, although they say that unlike many auction houses nowadays they do actively encourage bidders in the room.

They point out that there is a café and free parking.