Mourning family discover their late lorry driver father had secretly hidden more than 20 classic motorcycles worth £20,000 around his house, garage and garden

A mourning family was shocked to discover their late father had a classic motorcycle collection hidden around his home.

The lorry driver's family had been going through his possessions when they discovered logbooks for motorcycles that led them to find the bikes, which is set to fetch £20,000 at auction.

The family discovered a variety of bikes including a BMW with Steib side-car, six 1950s Autocycles, and Velocette Le Vogue motorcycle at the home in Medway, Kent.

His daughter, who said she and the family wanted to remain anonymous in the run-up to an auction, said: 'It is very sad to see all these bikes and paraphernalia leave their hiding places and going off to be sold.

A mourning family was shocked to discover their late father had hidden a motorcycle collection of more than 20 bikes around their home in Medway, Kent. One of the bikes discovered is a Velocette Le Vogue (pictured) which was described as his pride and joy

'Dad was a clever, honest and incredibly interesting man and you never knew what to expect. - he's still surprising us now!' 

The enthusiast managed to buy, collect and store the machines without his family's knowledge.   

His family admitted their father was 'a bit unusual' adding: 'Our dad was a little eccentric. An HGV driver by trade, a collector and craftsman at heart and a hoarder by nature - but an incredibly organised one!'

His daughter, who said she and the family wanted to remain anonymous in the run-up to an auction, said at her home in Medway, Kent: 'It is very sad to see all these bikes and paraphernalia leave their hiding places and going off to be sold. 

His daughter said: 'It is very sad to see all these bikes and paraphernalia leave their hiding places and going off to be sold.' One of the motorcycles the family discovered is a BMW with Steib side-car (pictured)

She added: 'Dad was a clever, honest and incredibly interesting man and you never knew what to expect. - he's still surprising us now!' A green New Hudson autocycle (pictured) found hidden under dusty blankets is expected to go under the hammer an upcoming auction

She explained the discovery was first made when they went through his paperwork and found logbooks for motorbikes. One of the bikes found hidden under dusty blankets is expected to go under the hammer an upcoming auction Norman autocycle (pictured)

'Dad was a clever, honest and incredibly interesting man and you never knew what to expect - he's still surprising us now! 

She explained the discovery was first made when they began to go through his paperwork and found a file of logbooks for motorbikes. 

'Growing up, we knew he'd had a passion for them and spent his 40's and 50's restoring a few and that there were a couple in the garage, wrapped under blankets but in this file we found 21 envelopes!'

'They were labelled with engine numbers, reg numbers and with V5C's inside along with the older V5's and each envelope contained the interesting additional paperwork for each bike.

The lorry driver's family had been going through his possessions when they discovered logbooks for motorcycles that led them to find the bikes, which is set to fetch £20,000 at auction

After finding the logbooks, the late lorry driver's family began to search for the motorcycles. Five of the 21 bikes were found hidden under blankets in the garage

'We couldn't believe there could be 21 bikes at home as we just hadn't seen them and so the hunt began.'  

They found 13 bikes in a garage, two in a garden shed and the cellar, another hidden under tarpaulin in the garden - all hidden for 30 years without anyone noticing.  

The last five were found pushed against the wall behind blankets of wood and other garage detritus.

The daughter also recalled her father risking his life for to save the Velocette Le Vogue, described as his pride and joy, after a bonfire flame caught a light in the middle of the night.

The discovered the green Norman autocycle that was covered in dust - hidden for 30 years without anyone noticing

The autocycle was cleaned up and appeared to be in good condition

'Dad fought the fire himself and dragged the burning tarps off the bike with his bare hands,' she said he sustained burns to his hands and his bike was unharmed.   

Auctioneer Mark Bryan of H&H Classic Bike Department said: 'The restored bikes had been properly laid-up on blocks to protect their wheels/tyres, some engines/gearboxes drained, spark leads disconnected.

'Even the unrestored projects were all carefully wrapped up to protect them from any further degradation and preserve them in their original condition.' 

The bikes will be sold on July 30 with H&H Classics at the National Motorcycle Museum. 

Another black autocycle covered in dust was found amongst the hidden collection

It was also cleaned up to reveal that it appeared in good condition