A LITTLE-KNOWN organisation which has its world headquarters in a small North-East village is to feature in a book about strange cults and societies.

The British-Israel World Federation (BIWF) has its headquarters in a converted literary institute, in Low Etherley, near Bishop Auckland.

The book, the Joy of Sects, by Sam Jordison, takes a light-hearted look at some of the mysterious and strange religious societies in the world.

The BIWF believes Anglo-Saxon and Celtic people are originally descended from the ten lost tribes of Israel, and that the British Royal Family are the rightful heirs to the throne of King David.

Mr Jordison, who is originally from Sedgefield, but now lives in Oxford, is the author of the "Crap Towns" series of books and has written for news journal The Idler, as well as numerous national magazines and newspapers.

He became interested in writing about sects and religions after walking down Charing Cross Road, in London, and seeing a man with a sandwich board reading, "You're All Going to Burn".

He said: "That was the 'Road to Damascus' point for me, to use the religious terminology of the book.

"That got me interested in these various organisations and the more I looked, the more it fascinated me.

"The British Israelites fascinated me, particularly as they are still going on near Bishop Auckland, which is just down the road from where I used to live.

"They come across as a patriotic bunch of Englishmen, but they have got some interesting beliefs."

The federation has about 330 members in the UK and estimates it has 100,000 worldwide.

It moved to its present headquarters at Low Etherley last year for economic reasons.

Famous former members include Princess Alice of Athlone and William Ferguson Massey, a former prime minister of New Zealand.

David Aimer, organisation secretary, said: "We are not a church, we are more of a prophetical organisation.

"We are a Christian organisation and despite our name, we are not Jewish."

Although many of the organisations featured in the Joy of Sects have branches in the North-East, including the Jesus Army, the Mormons and Kabbalists, the BIWF is the only organisation to be based in the region.

Mr Jordison said he is considering publishing a second volume.

He said: "I am thinking about putting the Toon Army in the second one.

"There are definitely elements of fervency and cult behaviour there - often in the face of reality."

The Joy of Sects is published by Robson Books and is priced £9.99.