Now stately home lined up for Saxon gold

The Staffordshire Hoard could return to the county with Shugborough and Stafford being touted as permanent homes for the Anglo-Saxon treasure.

Councillor Philip Atkins says the county needs to do the priceless Anglo-Saxon treasure "justice".

He said he was confident it would permanently housed at either the Shire Hall in Stafford or the County Museum in Shugborough.

The county council has applied for the two to become fully accredited museums and it is expected the go-ahead will be given within the next two weeks.

Councillor Atkins spoke out at a meeting of the full council held yesterday.

He said "I will publicly declare once again that Staffordshire County Council will play a full role in acquiring the Staffordshire Hoard.

"This is our heritage and we need to do it justice. We have a duty to represent the best interests of the people of Staffordshire. We will do everything we can to bring the Hoard home.

"It will be a lengthy process but the signs are good. We have made a formal application for the Shire Hall and the County Museum at Shugborough to become accredited museums. We will find out in the next couple of weeks if we have been successful."