First there was Oxford, then came Woodstock. Now, Witney is the latest town in the county to stage a star-studded books festival.

When two booksellers at the town's branch of Waterstone's suggested a books festival, manager Gareth Alder was not sure if their ambitious plan could be achieved.

But he decided to go ahead, and it was not long before a large number of high-profile authors signed up for the first Waterstone's Witney Book Festival, which will run from Monday, September 1, to Saturday, September 6.

Mr Alder said: "I knew there would be a lot of hard work behind the scenes, but in the end we decided to go for it.

"We really went to town and thought the worst thing that could happen was authors turning us down.

"A few authors did say no, but a lot of them said 'why not', and now we've got a great line-up.

"The events will be held in venues across the town centre and I think the festival will be very good for the town.

"If the week goes well, then we can have a look at making this an annual event.

"We tried to include local authors like the fantasy writer Mark Robson, who has been coming to this store for years."

The Monday night at Witney Corn Exchange will be military history night, featuring acclaimed writer Patrick Bishop, author of 3 Para and Bomber Boys.

Also appearing will be Hugh McMannners, a former member of 3 Commando Brigade and the Special Boat Service, who is the author of Forgotten Voices of the Falklands.

The Tuesday night at the Corn Exchange features an impressive crime panel, including Veronica Stallwood, who will be signing copies of her new hardback, Oxford Menace.

Mark Mills will also be appearing, together with Andrew Taylor and Stephen Booth.

On the Friday, Lord Hurd, former Witney MP, will join books fans at the Langdale Hall at 6.30pm to sign copies of his recent Robert Peel biography, and on the Saturday the emphasis is on children's authors with Julia Golding, Mark Robson and Mary Hoffman appearing.

Popular writer Stephen Clarke, author of A Year in the Merde, is giving a talk on Saturday at the Gallery Room at 4pm.

Mr Alder added: "Writers really love meeting their readers, so many of the authors we contacted said yes they would like to get involved."

For more information, call the bookstore on 01993 703525.