David BlackmoreAt a glance you would be forgiven for thinking this gold-plated pencil would look more at home in a billionaire's hand than an assassin's.But you should never judge a book by its cover as this ingenious item is a James Bond-style gun with a concealed trigger and a 2 3/4ins barrel that forms a .David Blackmore

At a glance you would be forgiven for thinking this gold-plated pencil would look more at home in a billionaire's hand than an assassin's.

But you should never judge a book by its cover as this ingenious item is a James Bond-style gun with a concealed trigger and a 2 3/4ins barrel that forms a .22 pistol.

The 'pencil pistol' belonged to World War II hero Lord Mountbatten, who was given the deadly device as a gift as the last Viceroy of India by a Maharaja.

The clever weapon makes up part of the personal side arms which belonged to Mountbatten, who was killed by an IRA bomb in 1979, and is being sold off by Norfolk-based auctioneers Holt's.

The items had been at the Imperial War Museum at taxpayers' expense since legislation banned the ownership of handguns after the Dunblane massacre in 1996.

But now that a government insurance scheme has ended, Lady Penelope Braybourne, Mountbatten's daughter, has decided to sell them.

Roland Elworthy, of Holt's auctioneers, based in Wolferton, near Sandringham, said: 'Lady Braybourne came to see us about selling her father's side arms because ownership of these guns in this country can be very difficult and we sell to the world and reach countries where people can own these guns.

'There is an enormous amount of interest in these items from across the globe but I think there is a very good chance they will stay in this country.

'The propelling pen has captured a lot of people's imagination because it has a great story attached to it and this brings the item to life. There will be strong bidding from India because he was the last Viceroy of India but it would be dangerous to speculate how much it could go for because he was a popular man.'

The 7in-long 'pencil pistol' was made in 1948 to the Maharaja of Jodhpur's own design and comes in its own display case and with a loose label stating its presentation to the Earl Mountbatten of Burma. It is expected to fetch nearly �1,000 at auction in London on June 24.

The other lots include a .38 Colt Lightening from about 1879 that was nicknamed The Peacemaker and a Colt .41 New House revolver from 1884.

Also for sale is a Mauser C96, which was effectively the world's first self-loading pistol, and a .455 Webley-Fosberry, both of which date from about 1900. The whole collection has a pre-sale estimate of nearly �8,000.

Lord Mountbatten was the uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and played an active role in the second world war as the chief of combined operations and he planned commando raids on occupied Europe.

After the war he oversaw the transfer of power from the British to the Indians as the last Viceroy of India.