A scorched guitar that played its part in one of the defining performances in rock and roll history is expected to fetch £500,000 at auction later this year.

The guitar, which was set alight by none other than Jimmy Hendrix at a performance at London's Finsbury Astoria in 1967, will be auctioned in September.

Hendrix doused the Fender Stratocaster in lighter fuel before setting it alight as part of a stunt which saw him receive minor burns.

It was to be a test run for the later, more famous performance at the Monterey Pop Festival.

Hendrix's press officer Tony Garland recovered the burnt Stratocaster and left it in his home, where it was found last year.

When it goes under the hammer on September 4th, it will join other items in the auction including Jim Morrison's final notebook and poetry and the last surviving drum kit of Led Zeppelin's John Bonham.

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