A blooming shame Bridget Jones's knickers didn't sell

It was blooming great sale that went missed as despite Bridget Jones's famous big knickers attracting bids of £3,900 on eBay no one met their reserve price.

The pants, which have been signed by actor Hugh Grant with the message "Hello Mummy! Lots of love and kisses", were first auctioned for charity on September 14 and fetched £2,000 to benefit The Royal Parks Foundation.

The winning bidder, Anna Mann, decided to re-auction them, along with a jeroboam of Perrier-Jouet's Belle Epoque 1995, on the internet auction to raise more money for the charity.

The underwear attracted 39 bids over the one-week auction period, with bidding starting at £195 and ending at £3,900.

But the sale closed at noon on Sunday with the undisclosed reserve having not been met.

A spokesman for eBay said the result did not necessarily mean the knickers would not be sold to the highest bidder.

"Basically sellers set their own reserve price," the spokesman said.

"It's possible the seller could accept the last offer that they have had for the item.

"But otherwise the options are to re-list the item, to put it back on with a lower reserve or accept that they are not going to get what they want for it."