THOUSANDS of pieces of the region's industrial heritage in danger of decay are to be rescued and stored at a North-East museum - thanks to a £2m National Lottery grant.

Beamish Museum, near Stanley, County Durham, learned yesterday it had been successful in a joint bid with Tyne and Wear Museums for £2.1m.

The money, from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), will pay for an extension to the Regional Resource Centre, at the museum.

The new building will provide a permanent home for thousands of items from the Beamish and Tyne and Wear Museums collections, that are at risk from the elements.

The centre will also support other regional museums by providing safe storage for their collections. And a new room will give schools and other groups direct access to the collections.

Miriam Harte, director of Beamish Museum, said: "The extension to the Regional Resource Centre will provide excellent storage facilities for many 'at risk' artefacts from our collections, and allow us to support other regional museums by providing safe storage conditions for them.

"It will give much greater accessibility to these collections, providing unrivalled educational opportunities for school and community groups, and enable us to intensify our programme of life-long learning, training and outreach projects."

The first phase of the resource centre opened in 2001 and has already attracted more than 54,000 visitors.

Keith Bartlett, Heritage Lottery Fund manager for the North-East, said: "HLF supported phase one of this project and we're delighted that, as a result of its success, we're now in the position of being able to support phase two.

"It's a great project for so many reasons, not least because it will provide safe storage facilities for regional museums and local heritage organisations, better access to collections for schools and community groups, and plenty of opportunities for volunteers to learn heritage conservation skills."