'NEASDEN BRAWLER'

TRUE BARD

British scholars have shocked the literary world by claiming an Irish-born prize fighter from Neasden, north London, is the true author of all William Shakespeare's plays and poems.

Titus O'Dronicus (pictured left), known as 'The Neasden Brawler' once attracted crowds of many hundreds with his virtuoso bare-knuckle performances in late nineteenth century London.

But Professor Edmund King-Lyre of Basildon University says the athlete's biggest claim to fame was kept a secret from his public until now.

Prof King-Lyre said: "By computer analysis of words and phrases used by O'Dronicus in the ring, such as 'I go and it is done; the bell invites me - where's me towel?' and 'I must be cruel only to be kind - son' we believe we've proved the body of literature previously attributed to The Bard, was actually penned by a humble working man living not in Stratford-upon-Avon, but by what is now the North Circular London inner gyratory system - sometimes known as the A406."

Descendants of Mr O'Dronicus are sceptical of the claims.

His great great grandson Perry Cleese said: "From what my granny told me he never even learned to read and write properly. The idea he could have knocked off 38 plays, 154 sonnets and two epic narrative poems while boxing and running a pub part-time seem a bit far-fetched to me.

"That and the fact he wasn't born until 1875, and Shakespeare died in 1616."

Sir Peter Hall is 107.