Perrott's Folly: £1m restoration appeal for Tolkien tower

A £1m appeal has been launched to restore one of the towers that inspired JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

Perrott's Folly in Birmingham dates back to 1758 and is believed to have been the inspiration for one of the two towers in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The tower was bought for £1 by the Trident Reach charity, which wants to raise £1m to build a community centre on the site and hold art workshops in the tower.

Ben Bradley, from the charity, said: "What we are talking about and working towards is having this open as a seven-day-a-week attraction for Birmingham."