The near-Chippenham Wessex Auction Rooms is to sell this week a previously-unheard David Bowie song recorded in 1965 - and bids are expected to reach up to £12,000.

The acetate is a recording of I Want Your Love by David Bowie And The Lower Third. The song was written by John Dee and Jack Tarr.

At the time, Bowie was collaborating with American record producer Shel Talmy, and according to the publishing database and Shel Talmy archives the record was also produced by him.

However the record is unlikely to be released for airplay to delight Bowie fans as the successful buyer at the auction on Friday will be purchasing just the disc, not the song publishing.

But auctioneer Martin Hughes expects the interest to be huge.

“I hope it’s the big one that makes the big money,” said Mr Hughes.

He added: “The seller purchased the physical music archive of one of the world’s biggest publishing companies and therefore unearthed a raft of amazing demos and unheard tracks from huge artists.

“This previously-unheard track has come to light from this amazing archive haul, and it is by far the best of the bunch.”

The song comes from the period where Bowie said “I used to dream of being Mick Jagger” and it sounds very similar to The Rolling Stones first hit I Wanna Be Your Man, which was written for the Stones by Beatles John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

A one-minute clip can be heard of YouTube at https://youtu.be/Zi7p0AwX3Oo

“The person who is selling this bought around half a million records and he is gradually trawling through them to see what he’s got. Every so often he finds something like this,” said Mr Hughes.

“It is by a mile the best track to have come from the archive so far, you can really hear Bowie straining to be so rock and roll. It is set to sell for £8,000 to £12,000.”

But the record cannot be bought and then released as a single because the buyer will not own the copyright.

“You are not purchasing the copyright, you’re buying the record and you won’t own the rights to the actual song,” said Mr Hughes.