London's Screen Archives (LSA) today launched a new website that facilitates access to 1,000 archive films which are now available for the public to enjoy for free www.londonsscreenarchives.org.uk. The website also offers a comprehensive catalogue of 16,000 films stored in the numerous London archives.

The online resource, part of the regional investment from the Screen UK Heritage Programme (SHUK), is the culmination of almost two years of work to unearth and make available gems from a plethora of London archives providing centralised access to the capital's film heritage for the first time.

Over 350 hours of film are now available to view through the LSA's network of archives, with material dating as far back as 1912, much of which has never previously been publically available. Works discovered through the project have been catalogued and the most significant pieces have been restored and transferred from their original formats with a view to making them available for online viewing.

Highlights on the new website include a Camden road safety film from 1970 starring Sir Henry Cooper, footage that illustrates the traditional bun-eating competitions popular across several London boroughs and celebrations of the Queen's Coronation in Hounslow in 1953. Thanks for the project, some of the films are also part of the new BBC and BFI co-production The Reel History of Britain hosted by Melvyn Bragg.

The site is available to everyone for free - from those curious about their region or family, academics and students undertaking research to film-makers, cinemas and community groups looking for material for projects.

The LSA is supported by Film London and represents a collection of over 80 organisations including specialist organisations, museums, local authority archives, colleges and libraries.

With funding from the Screen Heritage UK (SHUK) programme, LSA has catalogued and digitized films dating back to the early 1900s and through to the late 1980s on a variety of formats from cinefilm to VHS. In addition to the 1,000+ films now available for viewing, the catalogue currently stands at 16,000 films and continues to grow.

The SHUK programme is supported by investment from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport via the BFI and Screen Yorkshire and it represents a major collaboration between the UK's regional film archives.

Thanks to the nationwide investment, England's archive film collections are now better preserved and will be available to search for free by any UK citizen regardless of where they are based via the new 'Search Your Film Archives' facility.

To celebrate this material being available for the first time, LSA and BBC London Learning are organising a series of events taking place across the capital in October. The events will involve screenings of newly discovered archive film, as well as offering communities a chance to learn and get involved in their own film heritage.

For events in October and ideas on how to connect with your past through film visit the BBC Hands On History website at www.bbc.co.uk/history.