(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-11-20 20:24

PARIS - A Dutchman paid 150,000 euros (107,400 pounds) on Monday for a section of the Eiffel Tower's staircase, but declined to say what he planned to do with the chunk of slightly rusting iron.

A section of the winding iron staircase that Gustave Eiffel climbed to inaugurate the monument in 1889 is displayed on a street in front of the Drouot auction house in Paris, November 17, 2007. [Agencies]

"I'm very happy. We've bought a section of the Eiffel Tower," said Erik Kurvers, the president of the Dutch basketball team, the EiffelTowers, after the hammer went down on his closing bid for the 4.5 metres (15 feet) of metal at the Drouot auction house in Paris.

The original staircase, which once linked the second and third storeys of the 1889 Paris landmark, was dismantled in 1983 when elevators were installed and cut into 20 sections, one of which was sold on Monday.

Slightly battered and rusty, it stood outside the auction house over the weekend, attracting small crowds of curious passers-by.

"To get a price like that, there needed to be several buyers, and very serious ones," said auctioneer Remi Ader, who started the bidding at 20,000 euros.

Kurvers said he had a clear idea of what he wanted to do with his buy, but he was giving nothing away after the sale.

"We have a very good place to install the piece," he said, declining to give further details. "It's a secret."