A TEMPORARY export ban on a set of rare Lewis Carroll photographs has been extended until May.

Photographs of Alice Liddell, the little girl who inspired the author to write Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, have been blocked by the Government.

Carroll, who moved to the region in 1843, was inspired to write the book after spending time with Alice and her sisters.

A temporary export ban was imposed on the photographs in November to allow time for British museums to come up with the cash. The Department of Culture, Media and Sport has now extended the deadline after campaigners fought to keep the works in this country.

A consortium, including the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in Bradford and the National Portrait Gallery, is now trying to raise £600,000 to re-purchase the photographs. But American collectors have expressed an interest.

North Yorkshire historian and Carroll fan Maurice Taylor said: "Anything that can be done to keep Lewis Carroll's pieces in this country should be done."

Carroll, whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, moved to Croft, near Darlington, when he was 11. His father was the rector and the family lived in the village for 25 years.