Albion’s bitter shares battle has erupted again when it emerged that chairman Jeremy Peace returned staff Christmas presents sent by ex-director Joe Brandrick.

Friends of Brandrick have revealed how the former Baggies vice-president was ordered out of the club’s training ground, as he delivered chocolate and wine for office staff.

The rebel shareholder, who was a director for 21 years, had the unopened presents returned to the doorstep of his Wombourne home.

The incident just before Christmas is the latest souring of an increasingly bitter relationship between the former boardroom allies, who were opponents in court last year when Brandrick, aged 74, helped lead a group of rebel shareholders trying to stop Peace’s controversial share consolidation scheme.

A fellow shareholder said today: “Joe has always given Christmas presents, not just at the club but also to staff at his own businesses. He has done it at the club since he joined the board 22 years ago.

“He took presents to The Hawthorns and there was no problem. When he went to the training ground and was seen, he was approached by a member of the security staff and told the chairman would like him to leave.

“He left straight away but when he got home a couple of hours later he found a package containing the presents and a letter from the club asking him not to bring presents again.

“It’s so sad that it has come to this.”

Albion have defended their actions and insisted Brandrick had been asked previously to make an appointment before visiting.  They added he was free to send presents to friends at the club by other means.

A club statement said: “Mr Brandrick no longer has any official capacity with the club and entered the club’s premises unannounced. Therefore, he was politely asked to leave the training ground, just as any unauthorised visitor would be.

“Mr Brandrick was also part of a group of shareholders, who recently took the club’s directors to the High Court in a failed attempt to block a share consolidation scheme, which had been unanimously approved by the board.

“Under these circumstances it was felt wholly inappropriate for Mr Brandrick to use private club premises as a delivery point for presents.”

Brandrick served for more than two decades as a director before being asked by Peace to stand down in 2007.

He has since become a critic of the chairman and was among a group of shareholders, who applied to the High Court last November for an injunction to prevent the consolidation, which forced small shareholders to ‘round up’ their shareholding at a cost of up to £720 or lose their stake.

The application was defeated.