Roof-top tours of Penshaw Monument offered to visitors

Guided tours will run every weekend from 7 April to 30 September

Roof-top tours of Penshaw Monument, near Sunderland, are being offered after there was high demand for an opportunity to climb it last year.

In August a select few were able to climb a spiral staircase concealed in one of the pillars to enjoy panoramic views from the roof.

Now the National Trust has said it is "keen" to offer as many people as possible the "unique" experience.

Guided tours will run every weekend from 7 April to 30 September.

Height restrictions apply, but organisers said anyone undertaking the climb would be "rewarded" with "inspiring" views across Tyne and Wear and County Durham.

Last year hundreds of people were turned away from the landmark, which was built in 1844, after it was inundated with visitors when it opened the roof-top for one day.

Penshaw Monument, which was designed by John and Benjamin Green and is dedicated to John George Lambton, first Earl of Durham and the first Governor of Canada, officially closed to the public in 1926.