The world's most valuable doorstop? Marble bust used to prop shed open is worth £2.5m

In the hunt for a Scottish council's ceremonial robes and chains, a dusty chunk of stone propping open a storage shed door was almost overlooked.

- Harriet Sherwood

But the doorstop turned out to be a marble bust of Sir John Gordon, an 18th-century MP and secretary for Scotland, whose father, William, had given the family name to Invergordon. The sculpture was created by the French artist Edmé Bouchardon.

Now, the "Bouchardon Bust" could be sold for more than £2.5m - after being bought for only £5 (about £400 now) in a house sale in 1930.

The potential sale would bring a much-needed windfall to the small Highland town of Invergordon and its community projects fund. Yesterday, a Highland council committee voted to consult the public on the sale.

The local council bought the bust 93 years ago, thinking it would look handsome on display in the town hall. But, along with other discarded council paraphernalia, it ended up in the storage shed.

Maxine Smith, previously an Invergordon community councillor and now a member of the Highland council, discovered the bust 25 years ago while trying to track down missing items.