FOR SALE: 1,400 drama costumes, props and accessories.

Fur coats, military uniforms, Tudor period dress, bowler hats, axes and tennis rackets are among hundreds of bargains to be picked up this weekend.

Oxfordshire Drama Wardrobe, which has served am-dram groups, schools and colleges since 1968, has been forced to sell off half of its impressive archive to squeeze into a new home just half the size.

The volunteers who look after the Aladdin’s cave of costume at Steventon Storage Facility have already managed to flog about a third of the collection.

Tomorrow and Sunday they are holding what they hope will be one last sale.

Jackets, coats, trousers, dresses and “plate armour” will go for as little as £5 each, with some special items on sale for £20.

Most of the clothes are originals from the period – 1960s, 70s and 80s, and some genuine military uniforms.

The group id also offering bargain hunters a chance to fill a bag for £20.

Volunteer Carole Johnson, 74, said: “Before we started the sell-off we had 160 dinner jackets – we have got that down to 80 but I’d like to get it down to 40.

“There will be some Victorian stuff, some Macbeth costumes, Edwardian and genuine militaria.

“The people who should come down are anyone interested in costumes, anyone in amateur dramatics and anyone involved in buying vintage costumes.”

The group was forced to downsize because it had been unable to pay the rent at a larger warehouse on the site for several years, and was spiralling into debt.

As well as saving money on rent in the smaller unit, the costume sale will also bring in useful extra cash.

But the process of deciding which costumes must go has been far from easy.

Mrs Johnston said: “It’s been agonising.

“I could spend my life in here and still not get it sorted.”

On Tuesday the group was given a helping hand to move the costumes it is keeping to the new unit in the form of a 44-tonne lorry and a driver from Asda in Didcot.

That was arranged by Asda community champion Emma O’Driscoll, who is the group’s acting honorary chairwoman.

She said it had been a difficult decision to sell so many costumes.

But she added: “It will put everyone’s mind at rest that the wardrobe is alive and thriving, no longer in danger of closure and a valuable resource for the community to make use of.”

She added: “It’s nice to have a story with a happy ending.”

The sale will be held at the storage facility in Hanney Road, Steventon, from 10.30am to 2.30pm tomorrow and Sunday.