Liverpool City Council paid £2m for Beatles memorabilia worth just £300k Includes pair of John Lennon's glasses and George Harrison's first guitar Lawyers raised concerns at the time over 'conflict of interest' Valuer had been a company director with person who was selling items An investigation is being launched after £1.7million of taxpayer's money was wasted buying Beatles memorabilia. The items were bought by Merseytravel, owned by Liverpool City Council, in 2008 when the transport authority took over The Beatles Story museum. The council paid £2million for the collection which has now been revalued at just £300,000. The collection, bought by Liverpool City Council in 2008, includes these wire glasses worn by John Lennon during the recording of Imagine and the guitar George Harrison learned to play on This guitar and the spectacles alone were said to be worth £1.5million but the whole collection has now be revalued at just £300,000 Lawyers for the council apparently raised concerns at the time because the person who valued the items had previously been a company director with the person selling them. Councillors sitting on the board of Merseytravel don't appear to have received the information and so pressed on with the sale. The collection includes a pair of wire spectacles worn by John Lennon during the recording of Imagine, his most famous post-Beatles work, and a brown six-string acoustic guitar that George Harrison learned to play on. The guitar and glasses alone were said to be worth £1.5million. The revelations were made after a full audit of Merseytravel when it was taken over by new management. Auditors for Merseytravel have recommended 'a full investigation into the Beatles memorabilia valuation' and advised the authority to take 'appropriate action'. Merseytravel, which bought the museum on behalf of Liverpool City Council, is now launching an investigation Merseytravel chairman Liam Robinson said: 'We will look to take action if we establish that we were let down by those we were relying on at the time and that the interests of the taxpayer were not well served in the original negotiation. It is important to note that The Beatles Story is unaffected by this revaluation. It remains a profitable, first-class visitor attraction. It has had a bumper summer with visitor numbers up 8% on last year. From initial enquiries it does appear that elements of due process were not followed. This could not happen now. Our new governance and scrutiny processes would not allow it. It is a reflection of where Merseytravel was and not where it is now. Official documents state that 'both issues represent a serious failure in corporate governance'. Former Beatles Story managing director Jerry Goldman said: 'All I can tell you that I think is right for me to tell you is that there did not seem to be any discomfort from the Merseytravel lawyers at the time.'