A Nazi war relic at the centre of a bizarre blackmail case has been handed back to its owner.

Derick Smith, from Sunderland, was jailed for hatching a plot to retrieve the ancient chalice, which was once owned by Hitler's right-hand man, Hermann Goering.

The 51-year-old admitted blackmailing his former partner by kidnapping her dog in a bid to get the chalice back.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said Smith had given her the chalice as security after she loaned him £40,000 to start a business, a claim Smith denied.

Mr Smith, of Tuscan Road, Thorney Close, was jailed for nine months after admitting blackmail, but was released on bail in April after winning leave to appeal against his sentence.

The chalice has been in police hands since the investigation was launched but has been returned to him following a court hearing in Newcastle.

The chalice, which has been valued at up to £2m, had been at the centre of a legal wrangle over ownership rights, but is now back in Smith's hands and under lock and key.

"I went to prison for trying to recover it and it has taken four years to get it back," he said. "I have fought a running battle with the police. Now it has been established in a court of law that it is my sole property.

"I just want people to know I was only ever guilty of trying to get my property back."

The chalice was handed over at the offices of his solicitor under heavy security.

"It was delivered to my solicitor's office by Securicor and three of us took it straight to the bank," said Smith.

The chalice is now safely residing in a vault at the Royal Bank of Scotland's head offices in St Andrew's Square, Edinburgh.

The cup has been authenticated by experts in Berlin, but Mr Smith is still curious about its history.

"It has still not been fully researched," he said.

"There is a silver stamp mark on the bottom and we still have not found out where that came from.

"There is speculation that it could be much older than we know."

For now, Mr Smith is content to leave his treasure where it is - but he admits a sale may happen in the future.

Previous attempts to find an auction house willing to handle the sale have proved fruitless - a spokesman for Christie's, in London, described Nazi memorabilia collectors as pariahs of the antiques world.