An out-of-tune medieval church bell which has been damaging the “musical qualities of the whole peal” can be re-tuned after a row resulting in a church court ruling.

Church authorities wanted the bell, which dates back to the end of the 16th-century, to be re-tuned as part of a project to improve the sound of seven other more recent bells at All Saints Church, in Stranton, Hartlepool, which itself dates back to the 12th-century.

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) called for the bell to be re-tuned in order “to achieve a significant improvement in the musical qualities of the whole peal”.

However, the conservation group, the Church Buildings Council (CBC), lodged an objection to the plan, and argued that, despite being out-of-tune, the ancient bell in the Grade II listed church was an “aural link to the past”, and therefore should be left alone.

The row went before the Consistory Court where it was decided the bell – which is “caked in grime from industry, salt and sand” – could be re-tuned after it was pointed out it had been previously in 1907.