THE BIRTHPLACE of Bryan Robson, the infamous answer to Peter Lee's Who wants to be a Millionaire? question and the highest unemployment in County Durham - Chester-le-Street has certainly had a mixed press in recent years.

But a new book by a local archaeologist is fighting the town's corner and even proclaiming it the ancient capital of the North.

Raymond Selkirk's two-year labour of love, Chester-le-Street and its place in history, looks back at the town's rich and bloody heritage that had been hijacked by flashier places like Newcastle and York in more recent times.

Not for Raymond the Chester-le-Street of rising unemployment and commuter stress - his town is a much more vibrant place.

His Chester-le-Street reverberates to the sights and sounds of rough and ready Roman troops drinking and whoring their way through their 25-year service and Saxon monks spiriting St Cuthbert's body away under the noses of bloodthirsty Viking raiders.

As the former ship's officer and airline pilot explained, the town's past matches any of its more illustrious neighbours.

He said: "Most of the people in Chester-le-Street don't have a clue about their own rich history.

"People have forgotten that it was the North's Cathedral City in Saxon times, with a jurisdiction that spread from the Tees in the South to Edinburgh in the North.

"There are many things that people would barely believe. For instance, I bet few people know that the Romans used to grow grapes in Chester-le-Street and even rice at Hadrian's Wall."

Vikings, Norsemen, the Middle Ages and modern times are also covered in the 530-page tome which is the first definitive account of the town's history.

The book also has exclusive details of six Roman roads bisecting the town and a chapter by local expert Dr John Banham on Coal and Waggon-ways 1650-1850.

Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and supported by Chester-le-Street District Council, the book, priced £29.95, is printed by Casdec Limited.

It is expected to be available in March