STANDING proudly in front of a 'Royal County of Berkshire' sign in Oxfordshire and pointing to a map of 1804 historian Nikolai Tolstoy declared: "We saw off Napoleon and will see off Oxfordshire County Council."

Count Tolstoy from Southmoor formerly in Berkshire performed the official opening of the 'pirate' sign opposite the Barley Mow pub, Clifton Hampden.

He turned the clock back 32 years when local government was shaken up and old county boundaries were changed or vanished altogether.

Count Tolstoy has been a vociferous 'supporter of Berkshire' for years, and always signs his letters to newspapers as "Southmoor, Berkshire".

He claimed it was important to restore the old boundaries.

"If St Petersburg can recover its name after years of Communism then communities could be returned to Berkshire."

County Watch is headed by solicitor Tony Bennett, from Harlow, Essex, who said: "Most people probably don't care much after 32 years, but we think it is important because bureaucrats and politicians have no right to change our culture, history and geography that gives us a sense of place.

"Our style is to carry out sudden raids in an area, put up signs and face the consequences. We will be active in other parts of the Berkshire-Oxfordshire border in the coming months."

But the new sign did not last long. Within two hours it had vanished.

Oxfordshire County Council's highways area engineer Brian Short said: "There are strong ties and loyalties to traditional county boundaries that were established many hundreds of years ago.

"However the law on signs is very clear. If a sign is erected on highways land we are obliged to remove it."

Abingdon was once the county town of Berkshire. Mayor Alison Rooke said: "I still get letters addressed to me with Abingdon, Berkshire, and many older people still have allegiances.

"The Royal British Legion in Abingdon is still linked with Berkshire, as are football clubs. Changing boundaries could be very expensive."

The mayor of Wantage, Julia Reynolds, said: "I think Count Tolstoy and his supporters are living in the past. They need to face reality. I know there are many older people in Wantage who still think of themselves as Berkshire people but the reality is that time has moved on and we can't go backwards."

The mayor of Wallingford, Lynda Atkins, said: "I think it's a bit of a silly publicity stunt. Wallingford is well situated close to the boundary and we still have links with Berkshire.

"During last year's 850th charter celebrations the county record office at Reading loaned us many historical documents."

The mayor of Didcot, Colin Dauks, said: "At the time the boundaries were changed I was not all that happy but after so many years it would be pointless altering the boundaries again.

"Although for nostalgic purposes maybe some blue plaque-type signs could be erected marking the historical boundaries."

The mayor of Faringdon, John Gillman, said: "Faringdon should stay in Oxfordshire.

"I know there are historical links but when we were in Berkshire county hall in Reading was so far away. It's much better for us to get into Oxford."