Two motorcycle collectors from the West Midlands are locked in a legal row over a 53-year-old machine which threatens to cost up to £100,000, the Express & Star can reveal.

The “priceless” hand-made Velocette 250cc MOV road racing bike was stolen from the garage of South Staffordshire farmer Anthony Barrett in September 2003. Years later it was innocently bought by Birmingham businessman John Marston to add to his collection of around 70 classic motorcycles. It is understood that he purchased it from a legitimate dealer for several thousand pounds.

Mr Barrett, aged 61, scoured auctions and sales for the Velocette without success and finally placed an advert on internet auction site ebay last October offering a £5,000 reward for its return.

Six months later he posted another notice which prompted 55-year-old Mr Marston to sue for libel.

He is claiming up to £50,000 damages in a legal action that experts estimate could cost both sides up to £20,000 each in costs if it goes to trial.

Court papers conclude that publication of the second piece on ebay “severely damaged” the reputation of Mr Marston and caused “considerable hurt and distress.”

Mr Marston said at his home in Harborne: “I am a man of good character who has been collecting historic motorcycles for many years.

“Hopefully the matter can be settled fairly quickly without having to go all the way to the High Court.”

Mr Barrett, who had reportedly turned down a £25,000 offer for the bike before it was stolen, said at his home in Essington: “It was my property, remains my property and I will never give up ownership of it.”

The bike at the centre of the extraordinary dispute was bought by Mr Barrett from its manufacturer George Barker in 1994.

The Liverpool-born draughtsman, who lived in Tettenhall, had hand-built the machine in 1953 and it was raced extensively throughout the 1950s with various different engines, including one purpose-built by Mr Barker.

The bike was stolen in September 2003 and the theft was reported to Staffordshire Police.

Experts suggest that it would cost around £20,000 to build an exact replica, although that would not have the authenticity, historic interest or sentimental value of the original.