Empty cardboard box on sale for £400 after being used as a prop in Only Fools And Horses

• Showbiz
• Only Fools and Horses

The utterly non-descript cardboard box was used in the Only Fools And Horses 1992 Christmas Special as part of one of Del Boy's get quick rich schemes

Only Fools And Horses fans could bag themselves a memento of the show(Image: BBC)

An empty cardboard box used as a prop in a classic episode of TV show Only Fools And Horses has emerged for sale for £400.

The Peckham Spring Water container featured in the 1992 Christmas special Mother Nature’s Son. In it, Del “discovers” a mysterious water source at Grandad’s old allotment – which is in fact tap water from a hose he had laid under some rocks.

He convinces authorities to give him a licence to bottle Peckham Spring from his kitchen tap and sell it as mineral water. The empty box was salvaged by a member of the production crew.

Yours, for just £400(Image: HarperFieldAuctioneers/BNPS)

She is selling it at Harper Field Auctions, of Stonehouse, Glos. Auctioneer Stuart Maule said: “Only Fools And Horses is still hugely popular among collectors and this could be one of the most famous cardboard boxes out there.

“The vendor has had the box tucked away in a cupboard for many years.”

What would you do with it?(Image: HarperFieldAuctioneers/BNPS)

The box appeared as David Jason revealed he almost quit the hit show its heyday and 17 years before its finale. The 84-year-old played Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter in the BBC sitcom that aired from 1981 to 1991, with several Christmas specials until the finale conclusion in 2003.

There was nearly a different fate for David's character when he considered leaving the show in 1986. As he pondered his exit, head writer John Sullivan penned a potential finale titled Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

You could also have this prop bottle, expected to sell for £8K(Image: Tom Wren SWNS)

This episode did air, but it was set to have a completely different ending. It introduced a character named Jumbo Mills who returns to Peckham after supposedly striking it rich in Australia.

The original plan was for Jumbo to entice Del to join him in Australia to make his fortune, allowing David a break and setting up the series to continue without him.