ROALD Dahl fans have the chance to peek behind the scenes next week.

They can see his original manuscripts and letters for free if they live within the HP postcode area.

The Roald Dahl Museum, in High Street, Great Missenden, is holding a Village Visit day on June 8, with a programme of events and activities for all ages.

Emilia Foster, museum director, said: "We recognise we have brought a lot of people into the village, but that does cause some disruption to people. This is our way of saying thank you for having us' to everyone here."

The museum had a similar event last year on May 5, but Ms Foster is hoping it will be even more popular this time.

She said: "Last year we had 140 people, and we're hoping for double that this year. It's a nice day for local people to come to the museum without having to pay, and a chance for us to give something back to the village.

"And we're admitting anyone with an HP postcode, so we'll cover quite a wide local area. We want to show them what the museum has to offer."

At 11am staff from Great Missenden library will be offering a Bounce and Rhyme' storytelling session for the under fives.

Ms Foster said: "The public library does under-fives storytelling every week, and it will be a nice way to publicise that, and to actually work with the library.

"It's a fun thing for the children."

But the most intriguing part of the day could be the archive visits at 2pm, when visitors can actually see where Roald Dahl's letters and manuscripts are kept.

She added: "There are 104 boxes of archived material, and it's normally all closed to the public.

"There are story ideas, drafts, books, letters and photos. He was a meticulous drafter, he would always write everything out in longhand on yellow legal paper. Then he'd give it to his secretary to type up, and would go over it again and cut and paste bits before he came up with a draft he was happy with.

"People will be able to see a first draft of the BFG, for example. It's all stored at the correct temperature and atmospheric conditions."

Visitors will need to bring proof of their HP postcode, such as a utility bill, for free admission.