A little piece of village history is coming home.

And fittingly, the poignant return of a war memorial plaque to Shepley will come on the 70th anniversary of the ending of the Second World War.

The brass plaque bearing the names of some of those from the village who gave their lives in past wars was feared lost forever when it was stolen with others many years ago.

But by chance one of the plaques turned up at an auction in Somerset and has now been kept safe.

Kirkburton parish councillor Dave Bradbury has now revealed that the auction company and the family who intended to sell the plaque have now agreed it can be returned to Shepley.

He said: “I have just been spoken to Ivan Street, who is the auctioneer at Aldridges of Bath, and he has just informed me that the family of the estate are very happy for the plaque to return home to Shepley.

“The family has said that their grandfather was a military man and have no idea as to why he had the plaque. There is a story of it being dragged from a lake but who knows.

“The original plaques were stolen in 1971 and were replaced with funds and help from the Royal British Legion and our Parish council. Now I will be going down to Bath within the next three weeks to collect the plaque”.

A man had spotted the plaque for sale in the Bath auction and contacted people in Shepley. Mr Bradbury was able to have it withdrawn from the sale.

He added: “Certain things belong in certain places and this is very sacred to the village. It’s quite a moving story.

Stonemason Dave Bradbury, of Shepley, who has tracked down a missing WW1 memorial plaque. He is pictured with a Roman column he was commissioned to make in 2012.