HISTORY enthusiasts have accused museum bosses of ruining the home of North-East rail pioneer Timothy Hackworth.

Hackworth and his work on the railways has been the inspiration for the creation of Locomotion: National Railway Museum, in Shildon.

His home is at the centre of the £11m project which has attracted thousands of visitors from all over the world.

But the Hackworth Society, made up of volunteers and enthusiasts who worked closely with the Timothy Hackworth Museum to renovate his home in the Seventies, say many are leaving the new museum disappointed believing the cottage has been ruined.

The secretary of the society Elaine Bachelor said the society and members of Hackworth's family are now appealing for the museum to think again and put some character back into the cottage.

Mrs Bachelor said: "Everybody is so disappointed with what they have done and the Hackworth family aren't happy either.

"You used to be able to step back in time when you walked into the house and feel what it would be like when Hackworth lived there.

"Now it is bare and has no character at all."

Mrs Bachelor said that it is hoped that the museum will take people's comments on board. She said: "We are not knocking the museum. We think it is good for Shildon. People have worked very hard to bring it here and they have done a good job.

"But something has to be done about Hackworth's home and more attention needs to be paid to his history."

Museum manager George Muirhead said that he was disappointed about the Hackworth Society's reaction to the home. He said: "We were very careful before we decided to change the old museum and we did do some market research.

"People wanted a more modern museum and what we have tried to do in the house is tell more about the history of the people of Shildon and the people who lived here from the 1830s right up until the closure of the wagon works in the 1980s.

"It doesn't mean that we have forgotten Hackworth."