A Midlands daily used a mediaeval font for a Tolkien-inspired front page announcing the discovery of the bones of Richard III.

Archaeologists excavating a council car park found what appeared to be the skeleton of the last Plantagenet king, who was believed to have been taken to the city after perishing in the Battle of Bosworth Field.

The Leicester Mercury carried the news of the extraordinary find under the headline Return of the King – the title of third novel in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Its coverage also included a family tree tracing the line of descent from Richard III to Michael Ibsen, whose DNA is being used to test for a match with the excavated skeleton, and the reprinting of the front page of a 1980s Mercury souvenir celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Bosworth which recorded how the Mercury might have reported Richard’s fall.

Leicester Mercury editor Richard Bettsworth said: “This story has captured the imagination of people around the world and we wanted to make sure that the Leicester Mercury did it justice.

“Our talented production team came up with an eye-catching and unusual front page, and our writers have done a brilliant job at telling the story through in-depth news pieces and background features.

“Readers have told us how much they have enjoyed our coverage and we have certainly enjoyed covering this remarkable story.”