Morse fans will be on the murder trail in and around Oxford before meeting crimewriter Colin Dexter at a special dinner.

Readers of the best-selling novels will be able to explore some of the places Inspector Morse visits as he hunts down criminals in stories such as The Wolvercote Tongue and The Settling of the Sun.

On Saturday, members of The Inspector Morse Society will be staying at Exeter College before setting off for a tour of Brakspear's Brewery at Henley, which featured in The Sins Of The Father.

They will then travel to Abingdon where they can view the surrounding countryside from the roof of the town's museum and the Didcot Railway Centre before meeting Mr Dexter, who lives in north Oxford, at a gala dinner at Exeter College where the writer will be guest of honour on Saturday, August 29.

On Sunday they will investigate more Morsian sights in Oxford city centre when they will have lunch at The Mitre - which featured in The Last Enemy and Happy Families, tour the Botanic Gardens and climb Carfax Tower.

They will also be able to see the Alfred Jewel, which appeared in The Wolvercote Tongue, at the Ashmolean Museum before a cream tea at The Randoph Hotel.

Tickets for the coach tour on Saturday, the dinner and the walk on Sunday are still available from the president of the society, Dr Antony Richards, who can be contacted on 01223 833418.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.