A LIFELONG fascination with Tower Bridge drove a London taxi driver to invent a board game.

Cabbie Jim Walker, of Chester Road in Blackfen, came up with the idea for a game based around the historic structure while idling on the rank one day.

The 53-year-old said: “I tend to come up with ideas while I’m sat by myself at the rank.

He added: “I lived by Tower Bridge for over 33 years and I used to play amongst the barges.

“I always thought it was a magnificent bridge. I regularly drive across it, seeing tourists from all over the world day after day visiting this iconic landmark and I thought it would be great to keep that image at home so I set about with the idea of a board game.”

The game – Bridge Up - is a three-dimensional recreation of Tower Bridge with players moving around the board and answering trivia questions about the Thames and the history of Tower Bridge and the surrounding area.

The father-of-three, who has also created cartoon characters including Maxi the London Taxi, said he worked on the prototype for hours and was confident he had got it right when he tested it on eight-year-old daughter Connie.

Mr Walker said: “My little ‘un loved it. It is so easy to play and it is a great image when you open the box.”

He took it games licensing specialists GamesplayUK.com, who created a retail-ready prototype which will be taken to toy shows in New York, London and Nuremburg later this year to find a manufacturer.

Mr Walker believes the game will be particularly attractive to tourists. He added: “It is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world and I believe tourists will want to take a piece of their memory home in the form of a board game.”