The somewhat battered book, Cultures and Societies of Africa, had been borrowed from Cambridge University Library.

The library promised to waive the fine, which based on today's rate of £1.50 a week would total almost £4,700.

It was returned to Gonville and Caius College by a former student on Wednesday and taken to the main university library.

In a tweet, the library wrote: "Better late than never", adding "suffice to say we waived the fine".

"Must have been a great book - or a very slow reader?" they added.

A spokesman said it was not clear whether the student had kept the book for so long "mistakenly or deliberately".

However, it was still listed on the library's system as missing.

The book has now been returned to the cataloguing department and will shortly be put back on the shelf.