His activities have until now been one of the most closely guarded secrets of the London salerooms. He rarely bids in person, preferring to dispatch his agent Michael Naxton, 51, a former Christie's executive, who has made a series of record-breaking acquisitions on his behalf. Ashcroft has single-handedly created a highly profitable market for VCs, barely denting his immense personal fortune. Of the 1354 VCs awarded, 500 can no longer be accounted for and only 300 are in private hands.

A medal with a colourful history can be worth well in excess of £100,000. In June 1996, Ashcroft outbid the regimental museum of The South Wales Borderers with an £80,000 offer for the VC won by Private Robert Jones, a hero of the Battle of Rorke's Drift. It is thought that Ashcroft also has one of the two VCs awarded during the Falklands war, to Ian McKay, a sergeant in the Parachute Regiment.

News of his aggressive purchasing has alarmed the families of some VC winners, and is likely to dominate a reunion of the last 29 surviving VC holders, to be held in London next month.