Beatles' handwritten Eleanor Rigby score goes on auction

The original handwritten score for the Beatles song Eleanor Rigby is to be sold alongside the grave deeds of the supposed muse.

The piece of memorabilia, handwritten and signed by Paul McCartney and their late producer George Martin, is expected to fetch £20,000.

The score includes notes specifying that it was to be recorded at London's Abbey Road Studio number two and that four violins, two violas and two cellos were to be used.

"Each item is fantastic, unique and of significant historical importance in itself, so to have both come up at the same time is an incredible coincidence," said Paul Fairweather from Omega Auctions, which is selling the items.

"I expect there to be fierce bidding from across the globe."

In a separate lot, the grave deeds of a woman named Eleanor Rigby, who many believe served as inspiration to the 1966 hit, will also be sold.

That includes a miniature Bible, dated 1899, with the name Elenor Rigby handwritten inside - which is expected to sell for £5,000.

The grave was found in the 1980s, in St Peter's churchyard in Woolton, Liverpool, where McCartney met John Lennon at a party in 1957.

The two Beatles revealed they used to take shortcuts through the church grounds, and rumours started that she was the same Eleanor Rigby who wore "the face that she keeps in a jar by the door".

McCartney has always refuted the theory, insisting that the name Eleanor was inspired by actress Eleanor Bron, who starred in The Beatles' film Help!

The surname Rigby, he said, was the name of a wine merchant.

"Eleanor Rigby is a totally fictitious character that I made up," he said in 2008.

"If someone wants to spend money buying a document to prove a fictitious character exists, that's fine with me."

The sale will take place at the Beatles Memorabilia Auction in Warrington on 11 September.