Government block Kelly Clarkson from taking Jane Austen ring out of UK

Kelly Clarkson has sold more than 20 million records. Credit: Anthony Harvey/PA Wire

The Government has stepped in to stop US singer Kelly Clarkson taking a gold and turquoise ring once owned by Jane Austen out of the country.

The star, who shot to fame when she won the American Idol show, bought the jewellery at auction last year for more than £150,000, but culture minister Ed Vaizey has put a temporary export bar on the work in a bid to keep it in the UK.

ITV News' Lewis Vaughan Jones reports:

The ring is one of only three surviving pieces of jewellery known to have belonged to the Pride and Prejudice author, having been given to her sister Cassandra and then passed down through the family before it was sold.

Vaizey said:

The decision on the export licence will be deferred until September 30 and can be extended to December 30 if proof emerges of "a serious intention to raise funds" to match its six-figure price tag.

Austen, whose face will appear on £10 notes from 2017, wrote six full novels which cemented her place in the canon of English literature.

Clarkson, who grew up in Texas, has sold more than 20 million records since winning the US talent show in 2002.