Ex-MP offers tours of former constituency for £5

Sir Bob now spends his free time being a tour guide in Colchester

A former MP who lost his seat of 18 years in the last general election is conducting tours in his former constituency for £5 a time.

Liberal Democrat Sir Bob Russell takes visitors on two-hour tours of Colchester every fortnight.

He hopes money from the tours will pay for a statue of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star writer Jane Taylor, who lived in the town, and boost tourism.

"I now have time on my hands," he told the BBC's Sunday Politics.

"I've gone from an 80-hour, seven-day week - I've gone from the outside lane of the motorway to a country lane - so I'm trying to put my time to good purposes.

"I think Colchester needs to up its game in heritage. We're not York, we're not Chester, we're not Cambridge, but we're very much still a premier tourist attraction.

Sites of interest in Colchester include the oldest surviving town wall...

"We need to promote ourselves more, and this is my little way of doing it."

Sir Bob puts on two separate tours, covering 2,000 years of Colchester history from Roman times up to the present day.

The town is known as Britain's "first city", created by the Emperor Claudius in AD 49. It boasts attractions including the oldest and largest surviving town wall and the largest surviving water tower in the country.

Asked whether people want a former MP carrying out a tour, he said: "There's been no problems so far."

...and the largest water tower in the country, affectionately named "Jumbo"

He plans to run the tours each spring and summer and the £5 fee is voluntary.

However, it is not the first time he has conducted tours of his beloved town.

In 2013, he offered tours to raise money for the Liberal Democrats, including showing people the spot where he broke his arm at the age of 14.

You can hear more about Sir Bob Russell's Colchester tours and his thoughts on the future of the Liberal Democrats on Sunday Politics East, at 13.30 BST on Sunday on BBC One.