THE deputy leader of Worcestershire County Council has been taken to the small claims court by his brother for allegedly stealing and selling a precious book.

Councillor Adrian Hardman’s brother, Tim, has revealed details about a long-running feud between the pair, which has resulted in him bringing a claim for a book he alleges was stolen by the veteran politician.

The case was heard at Cambridge County Court on Thursday afternoon, with District Judge Bosman adjourning to deliberate before making a ruling.

In Tim’s written statement to the judge, he claimed that Cllr Hardman took property from their mother after her death in 1986, including The Birds of America by naturalist and painter John James Audubon.

Tim, 67, who lives in Cambridge, says the copy of the book was worth £127.50, and this is the amount he is claiming from Cllr Hardman via the court case.

In his court statement, Tim wrote: “Since I was my mother’s executor I might have expected in my role that I might have received the full help and co-operation of my immediate relatives and to have been informed of her death immediately.

"This didn’t happen. He (Cllr Hardman) stole a significant quantity of my mother’s possessions from her home and at the same time stole at least three of the books that I had left there for safe keeping.

"Evidence first emerged at the end of 2012 that Adrian had, in 1986, stolen all the photographic equipment, cine film and photographs that were in his mother’s estate as well, some of her jewellery and other items.

"In the autumn of 2016 I noticed a copy had been sold by auction at Stroud Auction Rooms, an auction house near where Adrian lives.

"It had had no reserve price and it had gone under the hammer for £25. A visit to his house confirmed there was certainly no possibility of recovery.”

Tim said he went to Cllr Hardman's house on Christmas Eve 2016 in an attempt to finally establish what happened but no resolution was reached. He claims Cllr Hardman had wrongly suggested in court that he (Tim) suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.

Cllr Hardman was unavailable for comment.