A COMPETITION to find the oldest bible in the borough saw a 400-year-old version of the best-selling book unearthed in Stourbridge.

Lye Christadelphians organised the competition as part of a bible exhibition at Stourbridge Town Hall and they were left stunned when Pedmore man Adrian Durkin brought in a Geneva Bible dating from 1600 to 1630.

The rare book, which netted a £50 prize for its owner, is also known as the Breeches bible because of a reference in Genesis to Adam and Eve wearing breeches of fig leaves and it was printed at around the same time the King James authorised version of the book was commissioned in 1611.

Phil Hayes, exhibition organiser, said: “it is incredible that God’s word, the Bible, has remained unchanged for hundreds and thousands of years and still its message is important in peoples lives today."