A debate over ownership of a cannon pulled from the wreck of the HMS Anson has brought back memories of the 1960s to Helston Town Council.

Cornwall Councillor Judith Haycock has vowed to pore over old council minutes to settle once and for all the ownership of Helston's historic artillery piece.

The cannon which was salvaged from Loe Bar in the 1960s is in need of repair, but until Councillor Haycock finishes her research it will be unclear on whom the responsibility should fall.

To that end, she will look through the minutes of the now defunct Helston Borough Council, hoping to put the question to rest once and for all.

She told Helston Town Council: "Hopefully something can be done to make it safe for the time being, a deal of work needs to be carried out."

Having already delved into the borough's archives, she said the council of the 1960s faced much the same problems as in the modern day, with cars driving too fast through the town, rubbish in the streets and anti-social behaviour.

The mayor, Mike Thomas, said he suspected the cannon had been gifted to the town, and Councillor Ronnie Williams recalled that his father had had a hand in salvaging the cannon 50 years ago.

He said: "Jack Sjoholm from Gunwalloe, with his tractor with a big winch, and my father went down there and winched it out of the sea from Loe Bar.

"It was taken to Culdrose and taken from there.

"Jack and my father got paid from somewhere, and it could well be here, they ended up in the Halzephron and weren't seen for a couple of days."

The wreck of the Anson in 1807 is notable for local history buffs as the loss of life spurred Henry Trengrouse of Helston to develop a pioneering lifesaving rocket device. The unceremonious disposal of many of the drowned also led local solicitor Thomas Grylls to draft a new bill, passed into law as the Burial of Drowned Persons Act 1808 - or the Grylls Act - which provided for the decent burial of all bodies taken from the sea.