An ambitious 8.5m scheme to build the biggest public observatory in the world in the North East has been revealed.

It is the brainchild of astronomer Gary Fildes and a funding drive to get it up and running officially starts on November 7.

Called the Kielder Observatory Astronomy Village, it will contain a 60 seat planetarium, a specially built 500,000 telescope with a one metre wide aperture accessible to wheelchair users, and an accommodation block for visiting astronomers.

Special glass topped pods for use by members of the public to observe the night skies are also planned.

It will be based on the site of the already hugely successful Kielder Observatory which already boasts 25,000 visitors a year.

Once the village is opened, the existing classroom where Gary and volunteers host lectures and talks about the stars and the universe could see visitor numbers treble to 75,000.

Organisers hope it will be up and running within five years.

However Gary said: If the money came in tomorrow we could build it in two years.

There are a lot of hurdles - we need a design team and a project director to bring it together, which is not my skill set, but Id love to think within the next five years it will be developed on land right next to the observatory weve already got.

I want to create the worlds biggest and best centre for astronomical outreach, here in the North East.

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Ambitious 8.5m plan to build world's biggest public observatory in the North East