A deeds register which under section 16(2) of this Act has been closed for all purposes shall be treated, in relation to the county council concerned, as included among the records and documents to which section 279(1) of the M1Local Government Act 1933 (custody of county records) applies.

A county council shall preserve any document forming part of a register to which subsection (1) of this section applies which they consider deserves preservation on historical or other grounds and shall, before destroying or otherwise disposing of any other document forming part of such a register, make and preserve a copy (which may be a microfilm) of that document if they consider that on historical or other grounds a copy of it should be preserved.

In this section “a deeds register” includes any books, indexes or other documents connected with the business of deeds registration at the registry in question.