An Indian town which was the birth place of novelist George Orwell and the location of Mahatma Gandhi's first independence movement is battling to decide which of the figures is their favourite son.

Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair in Motihari in 1903 where his father, RW Blair, was involved in the opium trade on behalf of the British Raj.

The British novelist spent the first year of his life in the town which is near the Nepalese border. His father organised opium exports to China.

The small cottage where George Orwell was born in Motihari, India in 1903, pictured is under threat

Orwell, pictured, was the son of RW Blair, who was an opium agent for the British Raj in Motihari

Mahatma Gandhi, right, organised farmers forced to work at the factory as part of his independence movement

More than a dozen years later, Gandhi arrived in Motihari and mobilised farmers who had been forced to work in the opium factory which had previously employed Orwell's father.

The satyahraha movement was one of the embryonic stages in the move towards Indian freedom.

Fans of Orwell discovered the small cottage where he was born and managed to secure political agreement that the location would be preserved as a memory to writer.

Ironically, when the building was rediscovered, it was being used to house animals which were wandering around the compound.

However, fans of Gandhi want to use the same location to commemorate their hero because of its links to the independence leader's efforts to overturn British imperialism.

RW Blair organised the export of opium from Motihari into China although he left a year after Orwell's birth

Indian officials proposed splitting the compound to commemorate both Orwell, left, and Gandhi, right

The Indian government authorised some work on the Orwell project which would see the 2.48-acre campus split to commemorate both men.

However, according to the Telegraph, fans of Gandhi have developed a large carpark on an area inside the Orwell area causing controversy.

Orwell society member Debapriya Mookherjee said: 'I don't think they have read anything Orwell wrote or are aware of who he is. Most people in Motihari now know he was a great writer. Maybe few have actually gone through his writing, but most people know who he was and about his famous books.

'But these developers have no knowledge of him. It is a few people with vested interests. They just want to gain monetary profit.'

Now, a local magistrate has ordered the Gandhi fans to stop their work while he investigates the matter.