A war of the roses has broken out over a new boundary stone laid to mark the identity of the Bradford suburb of Wrose.

Community leaders officially unveiled the large Yorkshire stone, showing a white rose - the county's traditional insignia.

David Jessop, the chairman of Wrose Parish Council, which paid £1,500 for the marker, said it strengthened the identity of Wrose, showing it as part of Yorkshire as well as being a play on words.

However, some critics claim the painted flower is upside down, with a leaf pointing upwards and two petals pointing downwards, the usual positioning of the rival Lancashire red rose.

Yorkshire Ridings Society spokesman Sean Emmett, of Otley, said although there was no definitive way the Yorkshire rose design should be presented, traditionally it was the other way up.

The landmark stone, which was quarried in Fagley, Bradford, was laid on a grass verge at the junction of Snowden Road and Wrose Road.

Civic dignitaries, parish councillors and pupils and teachers at Low Ash Primary School, attended an official ribbon-cutting ceremony in December.

Bradford Council also provided trees in Claremont Park, Gaisby Lane and Carr Lane as part of the scheme.

Coun Jessop said that there had been a "long discussion" among parish councillors about the correct way to display the rose before the stone had been unveiled.

He said: "When we were doing this, we knew that there were two schools of thought.

"But one member, in particular, was insistent that it was definitely the way the Yorkshire rose should be.

"While we were at the quarry, we also discussed the rose and we didn't think it looked as presentable with the point down, because it didn't look as symmetrical. The other way up looked more balanced."

Mr Emmett, who runs White Rose International, a company selling Yorkshire merchandise, said: "The symbol of Yorkshire is the white rose and Wrose is quite right to use that as part of its identity. There was a rule made some time ago that there is no official way that the rose should be flown' - so there is no definitive right or wrong way.

"However, there has been a tradition in Yorkshire that a rose points down and on the Lancashire red rose, it is turned up.

However, Keith Madeley, chairman of the Yorkshire Society, disagreed that there were any set rules. He said whether the rose was displayed pointing upwards' or downwards' was entirely up to the particular medieval artist who designed the individual crests, which differed between the three ancient ridings and at different times throughout history, said .

Mr Madeley, who is dubbed Mr Yorkshire, said experts had spent years researching the county emblem.

He said: "I can categorically say with evidence from the highest authority in the land - the College of Heralds- that there is no right way and no wrong way up for the Yorkshire rose."

e-mail:marc.meneaud @bradford.newsquest.co.uk