Star Trek phaser sells for $231,000 at auction

A one-off phaser rifle from 'Star Trek' has sold for $231,000 (£150,000) at auction in Beverly Hills.

The phaser appeared only once in the show, being brandished by William Shatner's James T. Kirk in the series' second pilot episode.

[Related story: Jim Carrey fans selling memorabilia to buy guns]

It's the second highest price paid for a piece of memorabilia from the original series.

A collector paid $304,750 (£199,000) for Kirk's chair in 2008, while in 2006, a model of the Starship Enterprise from 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' went for $576,000 (£375,000).

It was made for the show's creator Gene Roddenberry by toy designer Reuben Klamer, who did so in exchange for rights to license toys based on his design.

The rifle turned up in the episode 'Where No Man Has Gone Before', in which the ship's helmsman Gary Mitchell gains telepathic powers and threatens the crew of the Enterprise.

But he's taken down by Kirk, using the rifle, which was made from wood, with an aluminium barrel.

It never appeared in the series again, though a likeness of it was later used on a 'Star Trek' lunchbox.

It had been long-rumoured, after a remark let slip by co-star Karl Urban, that Benedict Cumberbatch's character in the forthcoming 'Star Trek Into Darkness' was to be that of the mutinous Gary Mitchell.

Cumberbatch is in fact playing a character called John Harrison, 'one of the Star Fleet's top agents', who appears to have gone rogue.

It's due out on May 17.