A signed copy of the timeless CHARLES DICKENS classic, A Christmas Carol, is set to return back 'home' to the town that inspired it, The BBC reports. The book has been bought for £27,000 by a group of donors after a fundraising campaign in Malton, North Yorkshire.

The campaign was led by broadcaster and local resident Selina Scott, who said: "It inspired me when I heard that the book was coming up for auction in New York, I knew immediately that it had to come back to Malton. I knew the Smithson story because my grandfather used to be the editor of the Malton Messenger and the Malton Messenger in those days was owned by a Miss Smithson. So [the story] has come down through my family as much as it's come down through the Smithson family." The book will now go on show at the Talbot Hotel, near the Old Counting House in Malton, before joining the University of York's library and going on a tour of schools.

First published by Chapman & Hall on 19 December 1843, the festive novella has had many interpretations, from a whimsical reincarnation via The Muppets, to being called an indictment of 19th century industrial capitalism. From TV to film, to theatre and radio, in a dramatic and comedic sense, A Christmas Carol has become one of Charles Dickens most treasured books.