A ROSS-ON-WYE antiques shop owner has just come into possession of a rare set of original Beatles posters dating back to 1968.

The set of five includes four psychedelic posters and a group portrait of the band from images taken by Richard Avedon in August1967.

The photographer used a new solarisation technique with the photographs and adorned them with psychedelic saturation effects to create the individual set of four.

The posters were first published in January 1968 and were available via the Daily Express.

Complete sets of the original five prints have previously been sold at Sotheby’s and Phillips auction houses in London.

Owner Mike Blackburn who runs the Curiosity shop in Broad Street said that he knew the work of the American photographer Richard Avedon who worked for Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and Elle and was delighted to receive the set.

He added: “This series of images are much sought after by collectors and fans alike. And it is by great good fortune that I’ve been able to obtain a full set of these portraits which will shortly go on show in the shop.

“I like the group portrait best, as its black and white, its strong and the image was later used on the Beatles love songs album.

“Admittedly the posters were quite freely available in the late 1960s when Beatles fans plastered them on their walls, but 60 odd years later, complete sets containing all five posters have become quite a rarity, increasing its overall value, as most suffered from have old tape stains or old tape residue to all four corners.

The black and white collage of the four Beatles was nicknamed ‘Mount Rushmore’ and was originally four other individual portraits of the Beatles before being stitched together to create the collage. While those psychedelic photos would later be used in the packaging of the 2000 compilation album ‘1’.