£5000: Chris Martin, One Song, One Piano, One Living Room

A parent paid £5,000 for Coldplay's Chris Martin to go to his home and play piano in his living room.

The father outbid dozens of others at a charity auction presided over by Tory MP and Islington resident Boris Johnson in aid of a new resource and IT centre at Canonbury primary school. The starting price for an intimate musical performance by Coldplay's frontman started at £400. Within minutes, as the bidding became tense, it rose to £4,000 and then £5,000 as parents formed small syndicates.

Martin had agreed to donate his time because Coldplay's business manager, Paul Makin, is a parent at the school. The final price was considered a bargain as, according to head teacher Jay Henderson, stars can charge anything from £60,000 for a picnic to £120,000 for lunch.

More on this story here