A VALUABLE painting of Malvern donated by the composer Sir Edward Elgar should be returned to the town, according to a district councillor.

The painting, by artist William Turner, used to hang in the chairman's room at the Council House, Avenue Road.

It shows the Priory with the Hills in the background and was donated to Malvern Urban District Council by Elgar in 1924.

But at some point in the last few years, it was transferred to Worcestershire County Council.

Now Coun Roger Hall-Jones wants to find out why it was given to the county council and is going to try to get it back.

"It was given to the urban district council by Sir Edward Elgar to mark the passing of the Malvern Hills Act in 1924," he said. "When the district council was formed in 1974, the picture was passed on to it. It really belongs here in Malvern."

The picture, believed to be worth up to £50,000, was a popular image on postcards in years gone by and a reproduction was used as a backdrop for stalls used to promote tourism in the town.

Coun Hall Jones will be writing to senior officers in the district and county councils to find out why the picture was handed over and what can be done to recover it.

William Turner, of Oxford, lived from 1789 to 1862 and was known for his landscapes, mainly in watercolour. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Watercolour Society at the age of 18.

Nigel Snape, of MHDC, said the picture had become the property of the county council in 1974 when the Malvern Art Gallery and its contents were handed over.

A county council spokesman said this week that the authority was looking into the matter.