THE battle over the remains of Richard III goes to the High Court tomorrow, March 13, as two cities lock legal horns over where his body should lie.

Since his skeleton was found under a council car-park in Leicester late in 2012 debate has raged over whether he should be re-interred there or in York, where he had strong connections.

Today, March 12, campaigners pressing for a York burial took to the city’s streets in a final effort to get more of the public on their side.

Tomorrow a two-day judicial review will get underway to decide whether to have the burial licence quashed and a consultation launched on where he should be interred.

Currently the skeleton is due to be re-interred in Leicester Cathedral , near where it was found, and design work on his tomb is already well advanced.

But a group of the dead king’s descendants, calling themselves the Plantagenet Alliance, insist Leicester’s case is simply one of “finders keepers” – and want him buried in York.

The Alliance’s Vanessa Roe, the dead king’s 16th-great niece, said: "He only spent nine days in Leicester, which was a Lancastrian place. It has no connections with him whatsoever."

The Alliance’s lawyers will argue at the hearing that the Ministry of Justice, which granted the burial licence, failed to consult the public over the issue.

The remains were found during a dig by archaeologists from the University of Leicester and a spokesman said they were looking forward to the final outcome of the case.

He added: "We continue to work in partnership with Leicester Cathedral and Leicester City Council for a re-interment of King Richard III with dignity and honour in Leicester."