A rarely-seen photograph set of The Beatles performing at a rain soaked gig in St Louis where they finally decided to give up touring have emerged for sale for an estimated £3,500.

The archive of 49 black and white photographs, printed from original negatives that spent five decades stored in a basement, show the Fab Four performing during a fateful concert at Busch Stadium in St Louis, Missouri, in 1966.

The concert took place under heavy rain, with organisers forced to construct a makeshift roof to try and protect the band's music equipment.

George and John were the ones most against touring; they got particularly fed up. So we agreed to say nothing, but never to tour again.'

Their 11-song setlist for the gig included hits such as Day Tripper, I Wanna Be Your Man, and Paperback Writer.

The rarely-seen prints have been produced from the original negatives that were re-discovered four years ago by photographer Tom Morton.

They had been kept perfectly preserved for over 50 years in his basement.

Mr Morton, who was given intimate access for the concert, hand-signed each print which measure 17ins by 22ins.

McCartney later said of the concert: 'It rained quite heavily, and they put bits of corrugated iron over the stage, so it felt like the worst little gig we’d ever played at even before we’d started as a band'

The band's 11-song setlist for the gig included hits such as Day Tripper, I Wanna Be Your Man, and Paperback Writer as well as covers by Little Richard and Chuck Berry

Not in the collection but indicative of the night: