ROALD Dahl's widow is launching a new fundraising drive to hit a £1.7 million target to build a museum in the famous author's name.

Felicity Dahl, who lives in Great Missenden, hopes to open the centre in the High Street to inspire children to write.

There would also be a resident author to encourage writers, as well as an archive of his letters and manuscripts.

Mrs Dahl, whose husband died in 1990, has nearly raised the money towards the project but there was a setback after a Warner Brothers' remake of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory had to be delayed.

Amanda Conquy, who looks after the literary estate on behalf of the family, said: "It is already well on the way.

"The final bit of secured funding was going to come from the remake but it is being delayed."

She added: "We will keep plugging away. It wouldn't simply be a museum. It's an ambitious project. It would be easier to create a shrine but we didn't want to do that."