AN article in the Wirral Globe headlined "Defining battle could have taken place in Bromborough", suggested that 'compelling new evidence' would be examined in a BBC Radio 4 broadcast on December 31.

The article appeared in the Globe on January 8!

Would it not have been better to report on the radio debate itself?

I accept that someone with a background such as mine of academic research and teaching in the field of chemistry and biological science cannot claim to be an expert specialist in history but I did listen to the broadcast.

Anyone who did so cannot fail to be impressed by the way that Michael Wood, a trained professional historian and authority on history of that period, had thoroughly researched the subject and its wider context and showed convincingly that Bromborough could not have been the site of the historically significant Battle of Brunanburh.

Other leading historians have also reached this conclusion.

Wirral is proud of its heritage, including its Viking heritage, and rightly so. But our knowledge and understanding of this heritage should be based on careful research and appraisal of all the historical evidence, and not on a sincerely held and much-publicised idea that does not stand up to expert scrutiny.

George Britton, Meols

Editor's note: Apologies for the article being published after the broadcast.

It was uploaded to the Globe’s website on Christmas Day prior to the Radio 4 debate, but obviously should have been updated for the newspaper.