THE rare opening of a historic clock tower in Abberley enabled more than 300 people to catch a breathtaking glimpse of six counties.

The 19th century 161ft clock and bell tower in the grounds of Abberley Hall opened to the public for the last two Saturdays and attracted 322 visitors.

Sixty-four-year-old groundsman Mick Williams, who has lived and worked in the grounds of the private boarding school for six years, said he is hoping the tower will attract English Heritage funding in the future to restore its five bells. He added the open day tours were a "great success" with hours extended to accommodate all the visitors.

"It takes a lot of time to get people up and down the 145 steps so we couldn't have got any more in than we did," he said. "Everybody was very happy and thought it was good value for money."

Mr Williams said the tours, led by himself and boarding assistant Hector Robertson, went in stages because of the building's various rooms.

He added visitors could see into Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Gloucestershire from the top of the tower and he expected more open days to be held in the future.

"I'm sure there will be more open days but, because it's a school, we have to be careful when we open it because of security reasons," he explained.

"There are very few things about nowadays that people haven't seen - and this is one of them. I'm sure it will court a lot of interest if it becomes open."