£50k trail will Get Carter film fans flocking into Barton and not a lot of people know that, Michael Caine included!

Plans are in place for a £50,000 tourism project aimed at attracting visitors from across the country to Barton.

The scheme will involve the creation of a Ted Lewis trail, celebrating the iconic Get Carter creator's connection with the town.

It will include stops at a variety of places around Barton which are featured in the books of the author, who grew up in the town.

Bids for grant funding to cover the cost of the project were set to be submitted this week.

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And officials are hoping to have the trail up and running by spring next year, if the bids are successful.

The initiative is being spearheaded by the Barton Arts organisation, which also runs a Ted Lewis appreciation group.

Monty Martin, Barton Arts chairman, said: "We want Barton to be a national centre to commemorate Ted Lewis.

"The reason he is nationally important is because he played an important role in the genre of noir novels, from which followed a lot of other kinds of crime literature.

"He was an innovator but not only that – in at least three of his books, he names streets, places and events in Barton.

"You can go to the streets, drink in the pubs and listen to the music he played."

The proposal, which has been three years in the planning, comes 30 years after Mr Lewis died at the age of 42.

He is best-known for the novel Jack's Return Home, which was transferred to the big screen in the 1971 film Get Carter.

Mr Martin said the trail would include information at each stop, as well as a pamphlet for visitors to follow around the route.

The funding will also pay for research to be carried out before the trail is launched, as well as a promotional website.

The trail will also include sites in Hull, where Mr Lewis went to college and Scunthorpe, where Jack's Return Home was set.

But Mr Martin said its main focus would be on Barton.

He said: "We want to make this town a known focus for the celebration of the life, times and art of Ted Lewis.

"It is to attract people from nationwide.

"It will help the places where you can stay, as to do the whole trail will take at least a day and a half.

"We are very, very excited about this.

"It is the biggest thing Barton Arts has ever done and it is overdue."