Richard III has already suffered the indignity of being buried under a car park in Leicester, but now his final battleground could also be tarmacked over, under controversial new proposals.

A ferocious battle has commenced at Bosworth Field over plans to turn part of the historic site into a 155mph test-track for driverless cars.

The Battle of Bosworth in August 1485 was the deciding skirmish in the Wars of the Roses, which saw the death of England’s last Plantagenet king and brought the Tudor dynasty to throne.

But part of the site belongs to Japanese-owned automotive specialists Horiba Mira Ltd, who have applied to Hinkley and Bosworth Borough Council to build a £26 million 1.2 million square foot track to test autonomous vehicles.

The area is part Historic England’s registered battle zone, and historians claim that if the track is approved on Tuesday, it will destroy an important area, as well as blocking the view from where Henry Tudor first saw the army of Richard III.