Ananova:

Nearly 10,000 Lord of the Rings fans have signed an online petition demanding Christopher Lee be reinstated in the final part of the trilogy.

It comes after the actor revealed he would be boycotting the premiere because his scenes as evil wizard Saruman had been cut from Return of the King.

The online petition makes the case for the seven minutes of footage to be reinstated in the final part of the trilogy.

It features a battle between Saruman and Gandalf, played by Sir Ian McKellen, and was the climax of a war between the two wizards.

Petition organiser Matt Shuster said he was a "huge fan" of the Lord of the Rings films but felt the loss of Lee's scenes was a bad decision by director Peter Jackson.

He complains that the axed scene is only seven minutes long and is an important part of the plot.

And he says the fact that it will be reinstated in the extended DVD version means that the cinema version will seem incomplete.

Mr Shuster said: "This is a bad decision that needlessly alienates the hardcore fans of the series and puts a blemish on an otherwise superb film."