A historian is challenging the traditional location for one of Britain's most decisive battles.

Michael Jones claims new documentary evidence shows the Battle of Bosworth took place several miles away from where it has been traditionally placed.

Using the account of a contemporary French mercenary, Mr Jones says the battle could not have been at the spot visited by thousands every year.

Bosworth was the final battle of the Wars of the Roses, taking place exactly 517 years ago on August 22.

King Richard III was slain by Henry Tudor, ending years of dynastic conflict and marking the end of the Middle Ages.

But the fighting may not have taken place on Ambion Hill, Leicestershire but about eight miles away, a new book, Bosworth - Psychology of a Battle, suggests.

Research by Mr Jones has uncovered a fresh account of the conflict by a French mercenary which places the battle several miles west, close to where the A5 and A444 junction lies today.

The traditional view of the battle suggests Richard charged down from Ambion Hill towards the Tudor forces in a desperate bid to scatter Henry's troops.

The new evidence suggests Richard's cavalry charge was well planned and occured at the start of the battle, casting doubt on Ambion Hill as the correct site.

Mr Jones said: "Ambion Hill is only quite narrow and it would have been madness for Richard to position his men there as they would have no room to manoeuvre.

"The new first-hand account of the battle is very important because it supports other later descriptions, which had to be discounted because of the geography of the Ambion Hill site."