CELEBRITIES have given their backing to a new library in an independent Catholic preparatory school in the Ribble Valley.

A candlelit dinner attended by 150 guests marked the launch of the Tolkien Library at St Mary's Hall, Stonyhurst.

Celebrated actor Sir Ian Holm, who plays Bilbo Baggins in the film Lord of the Rings, is one of several celebrities to have backed the project.

And he sent a personal message which was read out to dinner guests with his good wishes for the library's future.

Other celebrity endorsements include Christopher Lee, Fern Britton, Michael Aspel and Uri Geller, as well as the Blackburn Rovers football squad.

Tolkien visited Stonyhurst many times, after son John was evacuated to St Mary's Hall during the Second World War.

His signature appears many times in the Stonyhurst College visitors book between 1942 and 1947 and the area around Stonyhurst is dotted with names that are familiar to readers of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

Guests at the dinner were welcome by St Mary's Hall headmaster Michael Higgins and Stonyhurst College marketing and admissions manager Jonathan Hewat gave a talk on Tolkien's links with Stonyhurst.

He said: "Thanks to the generosity of pupils, parents, staff and friends of St Mary's Hall, the dream of a centre for learning and resource in the heart of the school has been realised."