An Oxford publisher has created a rock'n'roll version of the Romantic poetry of Shelley, with the verses read by the dreadlocked dub poet Benjamin Zephaniah.

Writer John Webster, who is pictured at the Shelley memorial in University College, had long been fascinated by Shelley - an unconventional freethinker who was sent down from

John Websteruniversity for atheism - and felt his lyrics would slip easily into the rock 'n' roll genre.

Mr Webster said: "I saw the West Indian critic and cricket writer C.L.R. James on TV telling poets Linton Quesi Johnson and Michael Smith that Shelley was the English poet closest to their brand of radical poetry.

"I then heard Benjamin on Desert Island Discs saying that his chosen book would be a volume of Shelley. I put two and two together and asked him if he'd like to participate."

The Shelley Story, featuring Mr Zephaniah and soft rock band Brindaband, is released on September 12.