A Wild West fan who won a legal fight with the police is now appealing for the force to return his weapon.

Allen Ambridge, 49, of Primrose Bank, Gilstead, Bingley, is demanding the return of a 122-year-old Winchester 73 rifle seized from his home even though all charges were dropped against him last month.

He said: "The gun is legally mine and they have no right to keep it. They have no proof that I am an unfit person to hold a weapon and I am not afraid to speak out. The prosecution threw the case out and it is unfair of them to keep it."

He added: "They have taken a useless piece of wood and metal and made it fire. People ought to know what is going on. That rifle was not capable of being fired before they took possession of it."

His solicitor, Keith Blackwell, said he had written again this week to the police asking for the rifle, which is thought to date from the Zulu Wars, to be returned. On August 12, charges were dropped against Mr Ambridge at Bingley Magistrates Court when prosecutor Jane Farrar formally asked for the application to be discharged. She said that the chances of obtaining a conviction before a jury were not good. Mr Blackwell said it was clear that the outcome would have been the same at Crown Court.

Mr Ambridge said then: "This has been going on since October - it's been a complete nightmare and I feel that I have been victimised.

"I am happy to have won my case but I am bitter about how it has been handled. I am now going to continue my appeal against the revocation of my firearms and shotgun licences. These were revoked without valid reason in July last year when I was described as being unfit to own a firearm and a danger to the public safety in owning a shotgun - which I firmly refute."

He bought the antique rifle at a Blackpool flea market for £600. The prosecution had claimed it was still technically a firearm.

A spokeswoman for West Yorkshire Police said the situation was still being investigated.

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