A FORMER antique dealer and auctioneer is baffled by his latest purchase at a car boot sale in York.

Malcolm Dowson from Sherburn in Elmet was intrigued by a pair of unusual items on a dealer’s stall and decided to buy them.

He believes the items are primitively carved wooden weapons, which each have serrated metal blades and carved handles.

Mr Dowson, who has dealt in antiques for 25 years, said: “I noticed the weapons and believed they could be tribal art or weapons from the 1800s.”

He has made enquiries all over Yorkshire to his contacts in the antiques trade, but said “nobody seems to have seen the like of them before”.

As a last resort Mr Dowson visited the Royal Armouries in Leeds, where he said a curator at the museum was “very interested but unable to identify them”, and had never seen similar items before.

Anyone who can help identify the items can contact Mr Dowson on 07774 130784.