Charlotte Bront has come out on top in a debate of sibling rivalry -- as a foretaste to the nation's decision on their favourite books.

The debate -- to decide whether Charlotte's Jane Eyre or her sister Emily's Wuthering Heights was best -- was run by the BBC, as part of its Big Read campaign, at Haworth's Bront Parsonage Museum, on Tuesday night.

The two books have been chosen among the nation's favourite 21.

The case for the two books will be championed by Lorraine Kelly and Alistair McGowan respectively on the BBC2 series fronted by Clive Anderson.

Lorraine, who described Jane as a "thoroughly modern heroine" will be putting her case across on the final show on December 6, with Alistair McGowan advocating the "passionate and dramatic" Wuthering Heights on November 15.

But Tuesday's showdown gave more than 40 guests from across Yorkshire, including Bront Society members and Haworth villagers, the chance to promote their own favourite.

Readings -- including one from Emily's unedited version of her only novel -- in the house by society members dressed in period costume took place before guests came together to discuss the merits of the two books.

The initial argument, given by those who had read from the books, put Wuthering Heights firmly in the lead.

Richard Wilcox said: "Wuthering Heights is unique. It is the ghost story supreme -- a ghost story with a vengeance. It is also about passion.

"What have we got today that compares with it? The Exorcist? Stephen King? They all pale into complete insignificance when compared with the beautiful and well-constructed Wuthering Heights."

Alexandra Lesley said: "They are much, much more than Victorian love stories -- they deal with different themes. There is just as much passion and just as much fear in Jane Eyre as there is in Wuthering Heights."

Guests were invited to put across their own case for the two books, from which Jane Eyre eventually came out as a close but surprising winner.

It was described as a much more positive novel than Wuthering Heights. And Jane was described as a real woman, with nothing clumsy about her character and as a genuine heroine unlike today's film stars and models.

Museum manager Alan Bentley was surprised with the outcome.

"I thought it was going to be the other way round, especially after the initial debate," he said.

"Jane Eyre was a blockbuster -- the Harry Potter of its day. Wuthering Heights is more of a slow burner. That immediate quality has lasted 150 years.

"But I think it is just great that two of them are up there."

Museum curator Rachel Terry said: "I don't find it surprising they are both in the top 21. They are both outstanding but different novels. They are both novels people can read, enjoy and feel affinity with the characters."

Viewers can vote for their best-loved novels in the top 21 by telephone on 0901 5229000, online at www.bbc.co.uk/bigread or through interactive TV.