TOURISM bosses in the Ribble Valley are being urged to do more to promote the area's countryside to visitors amid fears that its best asset is being undersold.

That was the message from the Ribble Valley Tourism Association's annual general meeting, held this week at Stonyhurst College, itself a tourist attraction, in Hurst Green.

The association believes the Ribble Valley is set to benefit from a massive tourism boom in the coming years, thanks to the success of the Lord of the Rings trilogy of films.

A Tolkien walk -- named after the author of the books, who is believed to have been inspired by the Ribble Valley while creating his Middle Earth setting -- was created last year by tourism bosses in the valley with a global distribution of leaflets to back it up.

Peter Carpenter, association chairman and a B&B owner at Kemple End, said: "It is great that we have these walks, and we do have a lot more walks than we had before foot-and-mouth disease affected us.

"But there is a concern that maybe that isn't being sold well enough to people who come and stay here. The countryside is our best asset and we feel that together we can do more to urge people to get out and off the roads to explore it while they are here."

The success of Lord of the Rings, and the well-publicised connection that Tolkien stayed at Stonyhurst College while writing the books, is already reaping benefits, said Mr Carpenter.

He added: "I have someone from Cape Cod in America staying with me, and the reason for the visit is primarily because of the Lord of the Rings connection and that walk.

"I think we will benefit from the Lord of the Rings connection for a long while to come, and it is important we do all we can to show visitors how beautiful the countryside is, once they are here."