A COPY of the Lindisfarne Gospels has gone on display in the North-East.

The facsimile of the Gospels was unveiled at Sunderland City Library and Arts Centre by the mayor, Councillor Juliana Heron.

It will be housed in a glass cabinet and will display a different page of the 518 leaf volume each week.

Council leader, Coun Robert Symonds, said: "The people of Sunderland and the North-East will be able to view what can only be described as one of the most precious books in history and to have it here in Sunderland is an asset for the city."

The manuscript has been kept in the capital since being seized from Durham Cathedral by Henry VIII in 1537 and is now housed at the British Library.

But some historians say the Gospels should be returned to the North-East, where they were penned by monks more than 1,200 years ago.

Earlier this year, the British Library presented two £13,000 laser copies of the gospels to Durham Cathedral and the heritage centre on Lindisfarne the island where they were created in honour of St Cuthbert.