Harrods chief Mohammed Al Fayed is to remove a coat of arms from the gates of his Ross-shire home after being requested to do so by the Court of Lord Lyon and following the rejection of a plea to the clan chief to whom they belong.

The offending wrought iron construction at Balnagown Castle, said to have cost several thousand pounds, is to be replaced by the Harrods coat of arms.

A plea to clan chief David Ross of Ross, to be allowed to keep his personal coat of arms over the gate was turned down.

Under pressure from Scotland's heraldic watchdog, Mr Al Fayed, whose highland home was once the clan Ross stronghold, has agreed to comply with the official request to remove the arms.

Failure to do so could lead to prosecution in the Court of the Lord Lyon King of Arms and a fine of #100 on conviction.

Mr Al Fayed who has spent millions of pounds restoring the fourteenth century castle since he bought it in 1973, was given planning permission to put up the coat of arms in 1995. But planners are not required to understand heraldic etiquette.

It was only when the arms were put up over the gate several years later, that clan enthusiasts and locals noticed the arms were those of the clan chief and the matter was reported to Mr David Murby, procurator-fiscal to the the Court of Lord Lyon, Malcolm Innes of Edingight.

Lord Lyon is Scotland's legal arbiter and judge in heraldic and hereditary matters. In theory, he has the power to order an official ''Hammerman'' to physically smash offending or illegal emblems.

Mr Murby wrote to Balnagown and Mr Al Fayed requesting that the Ross Arms be removed.

Heraldic expert and adviser Gordon Casely, who runs Herald Stratgem in Aberdeen, said: ''In Scotland, a person's coat of arms is their own personal property of identity. To take someone's identity is no different to taking their car.''

In an attempt to resolve the issue Balnagown estate wrote to the clan chief, a retired management consultant asking him to intervene. But the 27th clan chief, Mr David Ross of Ross, Representer of the Baronial Houses of Balnagown and Shandwick, whose ''seat '' is a modest house in Stanley, Perthshire, said he felt he had no option but to refuse.

''The idea was I should give my agreement for my arms to continue to be displayed. I pointed out that the displayed arms are in essence the property of the chief and protected by statute.''

Mr Ross, whose grandfather Sir Ronald Ross, discoverer of the malaria parasite was Britain's first Nobel Prize winner, said the matter was reported to the heraldic authorities by a third party.

''Lyon has requested through his procurator-fiscal that the estate should now remove them and they have agreed to do so. That now removes the fact he is purporting to be someone he is not.

''That coat of arms is my property, heritable property to be passed to my blood heirs as I wish and as Lord Lyon agrees. Clansmen and others would take exception to seeing my arms over some one else's gate.''

The coat of arms was still over the gates yesterday, but an aide to Mr Al Fayed at Harrods confirmed that it was to be removed.

''It was unfortunate, particularly as there are a great many other similar Ross coats of arms in the castle itself.''

Strictly speaking, they too should be removed. But to chip away original stone carvings would be in breach of listed building regulations.

Meanwhile, Harrods may find out this week if it is to lose a Royal Warrant which it has held for more than 40 years, it emerged yesterday.

The Knightsbridge store currently holds warrants from the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the Queen Mother.

Renewal letters are being sent out to warrant holders in the next couple of weeks and Harrods is expected to lose the one granted by the Duke, which was first given in 1956, and which is up for review.

Mr Al Fayed has accused the Duke of Edinburgh of masterminding the deaths of his son, Dodi, and Diana, Princess of Wales, during his recent libel battle with Mr Neil Hamilton.

The warrants granted by the Queen and the Prince of Wales are not up for review until next year.

Governed by strict regulations, the warrant enables the holders to use the legend ''By appointment'' and to display the royal arms on its products.

A Harrods spokesman said they did not yet know if the warrant had been renewed, but that if it was the commercial impact on the store would be ''negligible''.