Records of a council's art collection are to be updated to ensure all pieces, some of them potentially worth a fortune, can be accounted for.

Leicestershire County Council has a collection of around 6,900 paintings, drawings and sculptures, including original prints by Picasso, Henry Moore and David Hockney.

Many of them are displayed in museums, schools and other public buildings such as the county council headquarters and historic Beaumanor Hall in Woodhouse, while some are kept in storage.

But councillors are concerned that some items may have been loaned out over the years, perhaps to other authorities or museums, and not returned.

Now councillors Max Hunt and Peter Lewis have been asked to update records as part of a review of all property owned by the authority.

They will look at which works could be added to public displays or maybe sold off.

Councillor Hunt said: "The difficulty is keeping track of where it all is. That is what we will be trying to pin down. There is a concern that some of the pieces may have been scattered to the four winds over the years.

"Nobody is suggesting any foul play but the odd nice painting might have ended up somewhere and been forgotten about. "Some may be gathering dust in a back room when they really should be on display."

Councillor Lewis said: "It's a simple case of liking to know exactly what we have got. There may not be any mystery but we don't know. The county collection has grown and grown over many years and it is hard to keep track of everything.

"I'm not for a second suggesting we have undiscovered Da Vincis piled up in a room somewhere.

"But given the county's history we may have old prints of rural and hunting scenes which have some financial or historic value."

A County Hall spokeswoman said: "Artworks is an educational loans collection for schools, colleges and community use. "The Fine Art collection is displayed in museums across the county and loaned to other museums. The current value is not available.

"The county council is carrying out a complete review of all its land and property assets to make sure they are fit for purpose in delivering high quality public services."

Cabinet member for community services Councillor Ernie White said 6,000 works were on loan to schools, offered out on a termly or annual basis or kept at Beaumanor. Other items were in museums.

He said: "There is an inventory for it all but there are some grey areas. We perhaps need to be a bit clearer about who has got what. I don't know what the value of it all is.

"It would be nice to know. There will be some things of value but none of mega value. Could we sell stuff off? Maybe, but many items are donated with very specific conditions that would prevent it."