A petition to 'reclaim' the British crown jewels has been signed by 2500 people in the town of Angers, and the man behind it says he is ready to go to trial over the issue.

Artist Calixte de Nigremont, the man who initiated the petition, says there will be a trial to finalise which country has the rights to the jewels during the upcoming Accroche-Coeurs street festival.

Speaking exclusively to The Local, Nigremont said: "The petition is serious. It's a bit of a nod towards the British to remind them of the history and relationship between France and the United Kingdom.

"If we do eventually get back the crown jewels I plan to do with them what you do in the UK, and display them for the public to see. I like to think if it as giving something back to the French public."

The Plantagenet petition, named after the house of Kings who ruled in England until the 16^th Century, claims the crown is rightfully theirs after Henry VII Tudor decapitated the last Angevin heir to the throne, Edouard Plantagenet, in 1499.