A BOOK that went missing from Dudley Library in 2009 has finally been returned - to a library on the other side of the world.

The Wildest Province SOE in the Land of the Eagle was borrowed in 2009 but never returned.

Eight years later, stunned staff at Dudley libraries were contacted by librarians from Boone County Public Library in Burlington, Kentucky, to say the book had been handed in there.

Librarians were baffled as to how the book, written by Roderick Bailey, managed to be handed into the library almost 4,000 miles away in the United States.

Jen Beardsmore, head of libraries and archives at Dudley Council, said: “We always make efforts to get any outstanding books back but to be honest after eight years we’d written this off.

"You can imagine our surprise when out of the blue we had an email from the librarians in Kentucky saying it had been handed in there.

“We’ve told them they can keep the book but it’s been a nice interaction with like-mind book lovers on the other side the world.”