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Two early Peter Sellers films which have not been seen for almost 60 years are to get their first showing at a film festival.

Dearth Of A Salesman and Insomnia Is Good For You had been thought permanently lost until rolls of celluloid were uncovered in a skip outside the offices of Park Lane Films.

Film buff Robert Farrow had kept the reels among 21 film cans retrieved from the skip since 1996 when he finally opened them and discovered the lost gems.

After undergoing a hi-tech scan the films are now ready to be shown and will be played at the opening gala of the Southend Film Festival in Essex on May 1.

'Lost' Peter Sellers films screened - BT