A SERIES of tours is being staged to coincide with the new Alice in Wonderland film starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.

The Tim Burton movie is now being shown in cinemas across Oxfordshire.

And tourism bosses in the city have laid on the Alice in Waterland tour, and the Alice tour, to cater for extra interest in the Lewis Carroll story.

The council’s tourism manager Jo Butler said: “We are expecting a lot of people to visit the city now that the film has been released.

“Many people will just want to follow in Alice’s footsteps and visit places like Christ Church and the Alice shop opposite.

“We hope that these walking tours will highlight some of the areas of interest to people who enjoyed the film or reading the famous books.

“You can still see the treacle well in Binsey village and the firedogs in the Great Hall at Christ Church. The tree that is said to have inspired the Jabberwocky poem is also still in Christ Church.

“The new aspect of the tour will also get visitors closer to the story as Alice in Wonderland was first told in a punt on the River Thames.”

The Tourist Information Centre in Broad Street is running the tours on Friday, April 2, so that visitors can explore Oxford and the world of Lewis Carroll.

The Alice tour will be run by an Official Blue Badge guide, while the Alice in Waterland tour will be conducted by historian Mark Davies.

Mr Davies’s tour focuses on the important role of the River Thames in the creation of the Alice book.

It is also being run to coincide with the launch of his new book, Alice in Waterland, and will start at 3.45pm outside the Christ Church war memorial garden gate. Tickets cost £4.50.

The Alice tour on April 2 can be booked in advance by calling 01865 252200.

Lewis Carroll’s real name was Charles Dodgson. The Christ Church maths don wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in 1865 and Alice through the Looking Glass in 1871.

They were inspired by Alice Liddell, who spent her early years living in Christ Church, where her father was Dean.

Private Alice tours for up to 100 people can be also booked through the tours’ co-ordinator at the tourist information centre.