The dates of the Heart of the Forest Open Top Bus Tour have just been announced. The hop-on, hop-off �Heart of The Forest Tour� will start on Friday 24 July and run every Friday for the six weeks of the summer holidays (until Friday 28 August), with four tours per day.

Not only does this give passengers a glimpse of the growing woodlands over the hedgerows while travelling to the fantastic attractions, but the on-board guide will furnish them with local myths, fascinating historical snippets and maybe a gag or two!

The big red bus will start its journey picking up passengers in Leicester city centre. It will then travel to the pretty market town of Ashby de la Zouch where it will start its four laps of key attractions in The National Forest.

The tour is being organised by North West Leicestershire District Council in partnership with the National Forest Company and Roberts Coaches with support from Snibston, Conkers, Donington le Heath Manor House, Moira Furnace, YHA National Forest and Leicestershire County Council Road Safety Team.

The route includes Ashby Castle, Conkers Waterside, YHA National Forest, Moira Furnace, Sence Valley Forest Park, Donington le Heath Manor House, Coalville town Centre, Snibston Discovery Park and then back to Ashby de la Zouch town centre.

Timetables and tickets will be available from Ashby Tourist Information Centre. For more information contact 01530 411 767.

The open top tour is just one of the huge choice of things to do in The National Forest during the long summer break, ensuring young ones and their older companions alike are kept entertained - whatever the summer weather brings! For more information on attractions, activities, events and places to stay in and around The National Forest, the 2009 visitor guides to the Forest and Beyond are bursting with great ideas. These are available from Tourist Information Centres or from the National Forest Company.

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Media contacts: For further information contact either Penny Wilkinson or Carol Rowntree Jones at the National Forest Company on 01283 551211. For background information please visit www.nationalforest.org Digital images available, contact: media@nationalforest.org

Contacts Heart of the Forest Open Top Bus Tour � Ashby TIC � Tel: 01530 411 767

Attractions en route Ashby de la Zouch Castle � Tel: 01530 413 343, www.english-heritage.org.uk Conkers � Tel: 01283 216 633, www.visitconkers.com Donington le Heath Manor House, 01530 831 259, www.leics.gov.uk/donington Moira Furnace � Tel: 01283 225 682, www.moirafurnace.com Sence Valley Forest Park, Forestry Commission � 01889 586 593, www.forestry.gov.uk Snibston Discovery Park � Tel: 01530 278 444, www.snibston.com YHA National Forest � Tel: 0870 770 6141, www.yha.org.uk/nationalforest

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. The National Forest area covers 200 square miles of the counties of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire. Its objective is to increase woodland cover within its boundaries from an initial six per cent to about a third. No multi-purpose forest on this scale has been created in the UK for one thousand years. To date the proportion of woodland cover in the Forest has already trebled to 18 per cent and over 7 million trees have been planted.

2. Year by year, The National Forest has been steadily turning what was once one of the least wooded areas of England into a multi-purpose, sustainable forest. The National Forest provides environmental, social and economic benefits, including landscape enhancement, creation of new wildlife habitats and major new access and leisure opportunities. It is an excellent example of sustainable development � with environmental improvement providing a stimulus both to economic regeneration and to community pride and activity.

3. To achieve these objectives, the National Forest Company leads the creation of The National Forest, working in partnership with landowners, local authorities, private business, voluntary organisations and local communities and has strong support from Government, politicians and the public. The Company, which celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2005, receives grant in aid from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Carol Rowntree Jones Media Relations Officer National Forest Company Bath Yard, Moira, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE12 6BA Tel: 01283 551211 Fax: 01283 552844 Email: crowntreejones@nationalforest.org Website: www.nationalforest.org