The Derby Telegraph has joined the nobility – but it won’t be Lord Norton of Pride Park presiding over the newsroom.

Instead, editor Mike Norton is preparing to hand over the peerage to a reader.

The Telegraph snapped up the title of the Lordship of Smalley at auction and will offer the newly-acquired title in a competition later this year.

The peerage once guaranteed a seat in the House of Lords and the right to hold civil and criminal courts.

But these days the owners get a coat of arms, the history that goes with the name – and a certain amount of prestige.

Details of the contest have yet to be announced but it expected the Telegraph could provide some of the trappings of the peerage along with the title itself.