2001: A Space Odyssey library book returned 53 years late

A library copy of the classic sci-fi novel 2001: A Space Odyssey has been returned more than 50 years late.

The first edition of the ground-breaking Sir Arthur C. Clarke title was last date-stamped in Scunthorpe on 11 October 1969.

North Lincolnshire Council said it could technically have incurred a late return fine equivalent to about £4,500.

However, the local authority recently decided to permanently abolish late return fees.

The book, which was created concurrently with Stanley Kubrick's hit 1968 film, was found in a bag alongside library-owned sheet music of Elizabethan love songs and blues numbers.

The novel is finally back on a shelf at Scunthorpe Central Library for others to enjoy once again.

Notable events in the year the book was taken out include The Beatles' final public performance, the Concorde supersonic airliner's first flight and US astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin becoming the first people to walk on the Moon.

North Lincolnshire Council said the book was initially borrowed from Scunthorpe's Riddings Library and was dropped off at the town's Central Library more than half a century later.

The date the book was last borrowed predates the opening of the town's Central Library by five years.

Tim Davies, a librarian for the local authority, told the BBC: "We don't know an awful lot about it.

"Someone had been clearing out a shop they had taken over and they found it in a bag along with three books of sheet music which were also ours."

In a similar move to many local authorities, overdue book fines were permanently scrapped in July across North Lincolnshire's 14 public libraries to encourage people to use the service.

Mr Davies added: "It'd be nice to meet them if the person who borrowed the book is still with us, certainly if any light could be shed on the story that'd be nice.

"If anyone has any more information we'd be very happy to find out about it."