ONE of the region's most popular visitor attractions has won a national award.

The Beamish Museum, near Chester-le-Street, was named Best UK Attraction for Group Visits in the long visit category, at this year's Group Travel Awards.

It beat six other finalists, including Alton Towers, Cadbury World, Eden Project and the RHS Garden Wisley.

The award ceremony took place in London.

The awards are arranged by Group Travel Organiser magazine.

Miriam Harte, director of Beamish Museum, said: "This is a great accolade for the museum and all of the staff. We're honoured to receive the award.

"Beamish has won this category twice and has been runner-up on four occasions, proving that we are consistently giving our visitors a first class day out, maintaining our standards and meeting our customers' expectations.

"We hope that the award will help to raise awareness of Beamish and bring even more coach trips to the museum and our region."

It is the second accolade that Beamish has won this year. It was also named as Living Museum of the Year 2004, by readers of the Good Britain Guide.

Group visits to Beamish have steadily grown since the mid-1980s. The number of visitors arriving in coach groups has increased from 15,000 in 1985 to more than 50,000 last year.

Many visit the North-East on short-break holidays, bringing valuable business to hotels and other tourist attractions in the region.