An exhibition of Star Wars toys belonging to a Canterbury dad has been smashing visitor records as it tours the UK.

Matt Fox, 46, has collected memorabilia from the epic space film series since the age of five and now owns 500 items worth around £100,000.

The exhibition, called May The Toys Be With You, is currently at the New Walk Museum in Leicester, having previously been on display in Torquay, Southport, Paisley, Basingstoke, Barnsley, Gosport and Canterbury’s Beaney Museum back in 2015.

The collection - which includes vintage toys, original cinema posters and unpublished artwork - has broken footfall records at six of these venues.

This includes its current home, where it has attracted 30,000 visitors in its first month, meaning numbers surpassed that of a celebration of Leicester City football team winning the Premier League.

Mr Fox, who is originally from Epsom but has lived in Canterbury for 20 years, said: “Having it on display is really nice for me and it’s really satisfying to see it all presented so beautifully.

"That’s when I get to really enjoy it.

“I don’t actually have anything on display in my home. I live in a normal British suburban family home with my wife and children, so it would actually be quite selfish of me to take up rooms with all of this.

“You can’t really turn your home into a museum.

“It’s an amazing reaction really. Ever since it was in Canterbury it has been from location to location. It’s been out on tour, like a rock band.

“There are other collectors out there who have lots of toys, but I like to say it’s one of the finest collections.”

A father of two daughters, Mr Fox works in science education and has been building up the collection ever since becoming smitten with the original Star Wars film - later retitled A New Hope - which came out in 1977.

Many of the toys were gifts he received as a child, while others have been searched out on the internet.

“Space science has always been a big interest of mine,” he continued.

“I get [the toys] from Ebay and Facebook. A lot of buying and selling now takes place on Facebook - there’s hundreds of groups dedicated to vintage Star Wars.

“And when I was a kid, all I ever wanted for Christmas and birthdays was Star Wars toys. I used to be quite easy to buy for.

“I’ve picked all the low hanging fruit off now. There are a few bits and bobs left I would like to get, but I think I’m done, my wife will be pleased to hear.”

His favourite is a cardboard playset of the Death Star space station, which measures around 25 inches.

"The one remaining item he would like to get his hands on is the very first UK Star Wars poster, reading “Star Wars Is Coming” in big text. “That’s proving impossible to find,” he said.

“I think people just didn’t think to keep them. In many ways, Star Wars set the precedent for people collecting action figures and toys.”

• May The Toys Be With You will be on display at New Walk Museum, Leicester until October 28, then it heads to the Royal Albert Hall.