Bob Marley recordings restored after being discovered in London hotel basement

A hoard of Bob Marley recordings discovered in a damp hotel basement have been restored after it was thought that they had been damaged beyond repair.

13 2" reel-to-reel analogue master tapes were found in the building in Kensal Rise, where Bob Marley and The Wailers stayed during tours of Europe during the 1970s.

Thanks to modern day restoration technology, 10 of the master reels were successfully cleaned and restored, and the sound has been described as enough to "send shivers down one's spine".

Some tapes include original live recordings of Bob Marley's performances in London between 1974 and 1978, and feature famous tracks including 'No Woman No Cry', 'Jammin' and 'I Shot the Sheriff'.

The tapes were rescued by a fan, Joe Gatt, who said he received a call from a friend doing building clearance, who told him about the tapes.

"I couldn't standby and let these objects, damaged or not, simply be destroyed," he told ITV.

The restoration process, performed by sound technician Martin Nichols of White House studios, took almost a year to complete, as each tape had suffered water damage.

The process was finished just in time for what would have been Marley's 72nd birthday on 6 February.