´óÏó´«Ã½

Beatles lovers in Liverpool have united in a bid to save Ringo Starr's home which is under threat of demolition.

The Save Madryn Street (SMS) campaign will be launched at the city's Hard Day's Night Hotel. It will be headed by local Ringo lookalike Max Frudd.

Born Richard Starkey on 7 July 1940, the drummer lived at the house for the early years of his life.

The Victorian terrace in Madryn Street, Toxteth, is one of hundreds in the "Welsh Streets" area to be bulldozed.

Starr's birthplace has been repeatedly earmarked for demolition for the past five years as part of a plan to build more modern family homes in the area.

Discussions to move number nine to the new Museum of Liverpool are currently on hold.

But official demolition notices have now re-appeared in the street.

The SMS campaign group will meet at the Castle Street hotel at 1300 BST.

Phil Coppell, a Liverpool Beatles guide; Steve Barnes from the Hard Days Night Shop; Dave Bedford, historian and author of Liddypool; Frank Carlyle, author and Chris Johnson, a journalist, are behind the campaign.

Mr Frudd is a keen drummer who tours round the country impersonating Ringo as well as playing his own music.

They say the small terraced home attracts thousands of visitors a year and its removal would have a harmful impact on the city's tourism.

Founder member of SMS, Mr Coppell said: "We are going to fight tooth and nail in Liverpool, and around the world, to call a halt to this crazy decision to demolish Madryn Street.

"The homes of Paul McCartney and John Lennon are already preserved and Ringo is no less important.

"We want to see Ringo's birthplace conserved and turned into proper tourist destination and we are also taken by the idea that some of the houses could be converted for tourist lets."