A GUITAR that may have once belonged to John Lennon will be displayed at an event being held on Sunday by a Warrington musician.

Cinnamon Brow resident Peter Hoarty says the Hofner Congress belongs to his friend and fellow musician, Dave Treloar.

Mr Treloar bought the guitar from the son of a Plymouth hotel owner who said Lennon had left it behind after a visit back in the 1960s.

He said: "I bought it from a guy called John Gibbings back in 1996, whose father had owned the Bigbury Bay Hotel.

"Off the coast is a place called Burgh Island where the Beatles stayed when they played Plymouth in 63.

"Lennon came back and stayed at the hotel with friends and, when he came to pay the bill, he apparently didn't have the cash on him so left the guitar behind while he went into Plymouth to get some.

"The story goes that he never came back - that's what John grew up on and what he told me when I bought it."

Mr Treloar, a 58-year-old health care assistant from Devon, said that, although Lennon was not renowned for using a Hofner Congress on stage with the Beatles, it was the sort of guitar he or one of his friends may have liked to take away on weekends out of the limelight.

"John Gibbings is a song writer and when I heard him play the guitar, his songs were very, very good," he said.

"I guess if you believe in artistic influence coming through certain instruments..."

Mr Treloar said he did not want to disclose how much he paid Mr Gibbings for it but was keen to hear from anyone with information that could verify the claim.

The fifth Merseyside Guitar Show takes place at Aintree Racecourse Exhibition Centre between 10am and 5pm, and will feature more than 60 exhibitors and live music.

Mr Hoarty's band, the Golden Eagles, play at Chevy's 2 in Manchester Road on November 30.