AN important piece of North-East railway history has been unearthed at the region's first national museum.

A union banner found in old engine sheds at Locomotion: The National Railway Museum, at Shildon, County Durham, will go on display when the £10m centre opens at the end of September.

It was used in processions by the Shildon branch of the National Union of Railwaymen and turned up in the Soho Shed, which is now home to a replica of the Sans Pareil, on the site of the old Timothy Hackworth Museum.

The National Union of Railwaymen was formed in 1913 from an amalgamation of the already existing union groups, the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, the United Pointsmen and Signalmen's Society and the General Railway Workers' Union.

The banner dates from about 1920 and was made by George Tutill and Company, of London, then the country's leading manufacturer.

It features a picture of the Shildon Works and the slogan, For Justice, Liberty and Progress.

Two men would have carried it through the streets on public occasions, such as carnivals and parades.

George Muirhead, Locomotion manager, said: "We were delighted to discover such a historic artefact. The banner is an excellent example of the era and we envisage that it will be a very popular attraction at the museum.

"Once the banner has been restored, it will be displayed in the community rooms in the Sunday School, so that anyone who has an interest, particularly those locals with a family connection with the railways, will be able to see it."

The Museum will house 60 exhibits from the National Railway Collection, as well as one of the world's greatest railway treasures, the original Sans Pareil, built by Timothy Hackworth in 1829.

The museum is due to open at the end of September.

It has been made possible by the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, European Regional Development Fund, One NorthEast, Sedgefield Borough Council, Single Regeneration Budget, Department for Culture Media and Sport, Network Rail, Northern Rock Foundation, Department of Trade and Industry, Friends of the National Railway Museum, Arts Council of England and Dunns Haulage.

As part of a £70m Government funding deal for museums across the country, extra cash has been set aside to allow Locomotion to offer free admission for at least three years.