AN antique dealer appeared in court today charged with stealing a £3m first edition of Shakespeare's works.

Self-confessed 'dilettante' Raymond Scott, 51, arrived at North Durham Magistrates Court in Consett in a silver Ford stretch limo, accompanied by a chauffeur and his researcher Claire Smith.

Scott consistently cuts a colourful figure, donning a range of outfits during his public appearances.

Today he arrived dressed in all white as Boss Hogg from the 1980s TV series The Dukes of Hazzard in tribute to the heavy snow that covered the outside of the court.

Carrying his trademark large Cuban cigar and a Bombay Bad Boy Pot Noodle, he read extracts from Shakespeare's Richard III before entering the court building.

Scott faces a total of six charges, including stealing the book and an alternative charge of handling stolen goods.

He also faces four other separate charges of theft and handling stolen goods relating to a driving licence, credit cards and a personal organiser found at an address in Ayton, Washington, Tyne and Wear, last summer.

During the ten-minute hearing, prosecutor Michala Glass outlined the case against Scott, who was wearing a brown leather jacket, white t-shirt, white trousers, white shoes, brown sunglasses and gold chain, and asked for the matter to be transferred to the crown court.

Clive McKeag, representing Scott, told JPs: "The defendant will not be putting in a plea today.

"The defendant does not agree with everything that has been said from a factual point of view, but now is not the time to raise it."

The magistrates declined jurisdiction and adjourned proceedings until April 14 when the case will be transferred to the crown court.

Scott, of Sandford Close, Wingate, County Durham, was released on conditional bail until his return to court.

On leaving court, the defendant invited reporters to join him in the limousine, accompanied by his researcher and two local lads who had been recruited from outside court as his bodyguards - dubbed by Scott the Bombay Bad Boys.

He told reporters: "Like Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, I have had to suffer not only the whips and scorns of time but also the law's delay.

"Once again nothing has happened, absolutely nothing has happened. The case has been adjourned for nine weeks until April 14.

"Again the police are not ready to proceed. This is the laws delay but I have got a vehicle there and we can hold a bit of a press conference in the back if you wish."

The bachelor was originally arrested in June last year on suspicion of taking the 1623 folio in 1998 from Durham University.

The investigation began after a man walked into the world-renowned Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC with the 400-year-old book, claiming to have discovered it in Cuba, and asked for it to be verified as genuine.

Experts soon suspected the book was stolen and called in the British Embassy, Durham Police and the FBI.

The authorities set about tracing the man who brought the folio to the library, and who told staff he was an international businessman.

It led to the arrest of the eccentric playboy who then lived with his 80-year-old mother in a quiet cul-de-sac in Washington, Tyne and Wear.

Scott publicly denied the theft, and in an interview said that when the book was stolen ten years ago he would not have known the difference between a Shakespeare first folio and a paperback Jackie Collins.