On the auction site, the woman says she is selling a picture of the lacy black knickers found in her bed after her husband's affair. They had been married 22 years.

The Australian woman says of the underwear: "They are so huge I thought they may make someone a nice shawl or, even better, something for Halloween perhaps."

She goes on to say she returned from work after receiving a romantic text message from her husband - that had been misdirected - to find him watching a DVD and trying to keep her out of the bedroom where she found "the Tart's knickers ... at the foot of the bed."

The irate woman has said her husband's Harley motorcycle is the next item that will probably be sold on eBay.

An eBay spokesman has said Inessa the listing almost did not make it online as it originally included the actual knickers for sale and eBay does not sell secondhand underwear.

"This is obviously very therapeutic for this woman and it must be a great channel for her views on cheating and the sanctity of marriage," she is reported as telling media in Australia.