Australians were outraged last night at a claim that the boomerang - an iconic symbol of their heritage - could have been invented in Yorkshire.

North-East author and explorer Terry Deary, who is behind the popular Horrible Histories books, believes he may have stumbled on the origins of the weapon while jogging on Ilkley Moor.

He came across a weather-beaten carving on what is known as the Swastika Stone, first discovered in the 1870s.

Experts have mused that the Bronze-age image, dating from 3,000 to 4,000 BC, is a sun or fire worship symbol.

But Mr Deary, of Burnhope, County Durham, believes it is in fact a depiction of a four-bladed boomerang.

"It's the earliest representation of a boomerang. There's nothing else it could be," he said.

He considers the 10,000-year-old "boomerangs" found at Wyrie swamp in South Australia were really only throwing sticks which, unlike the real thing, did not return to the owner.

He said: "I compared the image of the stone from photographs with today's four-bladed boomerangs. The similarity was obvious.

"The Wyrie swamp boomerangs don't have the aerodynamic qualities to come back."

The news has not been well-received Down Under. Australian radio presenter Jono Coleman said: "All my Aboriginal brothers and sisters are incensed by this. Soon the British will be claiming they invented Fosters and Shane Warne."

But Mr Deary sees his claim over the boomerang as also an act of revenge.

"Australians have sent us Rolf Harris and Kylie Minogue," he said. "It's payback time."

Mr Deary was researching for a new audio version of his book Horrible Histories: the Savage Stone Age, as well as boomerangs for Boomerang Media, when he came across his discovery.