A HERITAGE walk launched to give East Lancashire tourism a hike following the foot and mouth outbreak has been named one of the top ten routes in the country.

The Tolkien Trail was launched by Ribble Valley Council last June.

Stonyhurst College and its picturesque surroundings were said to be the inspiration for Middle Earth in J R R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

He regularly visited the college where his son, Michael, taught classics, while writing his fantasy masterpiece and his name appears in the college's visitors' book between 1942 and 1947.

Now the walk has been placed sixth in a top ten of UK heritage trails by The Times newspaper and is to be featured in the ITV travel show, Getaway, later this month.

Council tourism bosses were quick to make the most of media interest in Lord of the Rings and devised a series of walks around picturesque Stonyhurst.

Twenty-five thousand copies of a visitor guide were produced and distributed across the country and the borough council was represented at a series of holiday exhibitions.

Tourism officer Jane Silvester said: "There was a great deal of media interest in Tolkien following the launch of the first Lord of the Rings film and we devised the series of walks to make the most of it.

"The trail has proved a huge success and we are thrilled that it has received further recognition.

"There was an upsurge in tourism inquiries following the release of The Two Towers and we are looking forward to a further boost after Getaway is screened.

"We can expect several hundred tourism inquiries from throughout the country at this time of year and most this year seem to be about the Tolkien Trail."

Pupils and staff from Stonyhurst College were present at the London premiere of The Two Towers, the second instalment of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, last December. Stonyhurst College marketing and admissions manager Jonathan Hewat said: "I am delighted that within eight months of the trail's launch it has proved so popular.

"I receive inquiries daily from across the world about the trail and Tolkien's link with Stonyhurst and just recently agreed to guide a group of American students on the walk in June.

"We often see walkers on the trail clutching their trail leaflets whatever the weather, although no one has reported seeing a hobbit yet!"

The trail starts at the 17th Century Shireburn Arms in Hurst Green, which Tolkien is said to have frequented during his visits to Stonyhurst.

Owner Steve Alcock said the trail had been a fantastic success and he had received inquiries from as far away as Australia from people keen to walk it.

"The village has benefited greatly from the trail's success. It's a great walk and everyone who pops into the Shireburn for a drink afterwards says they really enjoyed it."

The Tolkien Trail was also recently the subject of a 10-page feature in Country Walking magazine.

The Getaway programme will be screened on February 25 at 7.30pm.