MANHEIM has launched its online bidding site, called Simulcast, at a special sale held for Lombard.

The e-bidding site enables online buyers to bid for vehicles with images of the auction and real-time figures.

More than 400 vehicles were on sale at the auction, with bidders in the hall competing with cyber buyers.

Rob Barr, group marketing director at Manheim Auctions, said: 'Although this was our first sale in the UK, we firmly established Simulcast in our US auction network last year.

We are now running with an average of 70 Simulcast sales each day in the States and have already sold in excess of 25,000 vehicles this way.

'Vendors get access to more buyers and buyers get access to a broader range of stock.'

Internet bidders secured six vehicles at the sale, with online bids reaching £25,000. All online bids were shown in the hall on a plasma screen, enabling buyers attending the sale to see each time a bid was placed.