A RIGHT royal row has broken out between two neighbouring communities over ownership of an historical document discovered gathering dust on a shelf.

The argument among the archivists in Weardale centres on a seal dating back to 1846 and signed by Queen Victoria, granting the tiny dales village of St John's Chapel the right to hold a fair twice a year.

When the vellum document was discovered in a solicitor's cellar in Swindon, the southern-based auctioneers believed that a reference to St John's Chapel was the name of a church in Stanhope.

It wasn't until after local history group, the Weardale Society, bought the seal unseen, for £833, that members realised the document was issued for St John's Chapel, further up the dale.

The Weardale Society was considering presenting a copy of the document to Stanhope Town Council and keeping the original in Durham County Records Office.

But Ian Scholes, chairman of Upper Weardale Town Council, at St John's Chapel, is demanding the seal be returned to its original home.

He says he has found a ledger for the charter within the council deeds, which lists the costs involved in creating the document.

Ian Scholes said: "It must be the original solicitor's ledger. He has itemised everything he had done. He must have done a lot of work because it is ten pages long and comes to £273, which was a great deal in 1846.

"We would like to see the original put up in the town hall. It was written in St John's for St John's and we would like it back.

"But we're not paying £833 - when somebody steals your car you don't pay to get it back."

Sue Weston, chairman of the Weardale Society, said: "I'm really pleased they found that. It would be nice if we could keep these two documents together, or at least get them together so they can be photographed.

"I hope that it spurs other council offices to go poking round in their cupboards to see what they can come up with."