AN antiques dealer charged with forging the autographs of some of the world’s most famous people has appeared in court.

Allan Formhals, 65, of Milford on Sea, is charged with 16 offences relating to the sale and possession of a quantity of books and other memorabilia purportedly signed by authors including Winston Churchill, J.R.R Tolkien and Robert Louis Stevenson.

At Southampton Magistrates’ Court yesterday he was bailed to appear again at the same court on January 10.