A COLLECTION of photographs is to be returned to its old resting place in a former hotel which is being converted into a facility for youngsters.

The collection, which has been restored, was the work of Alfred Price and was put together between 1890 and 1911.

The prints decorated one room in the Golden Anchor Hotel, Hartlepool, and there are now plans to restore the room to its former glory.

After the building was abandoned in 1997, the photographs were taken away by Hartlepool Museum Service and kept in storage.

Now, thanks to a grant from the Community Fund, the collection has been restored at a cost of more than £5,000, and will be back in the old Golden Anchor in time for the facilities opening in the summer.

Ian Finnigan, development officer for Headland Future, the charity behind the restoration of the photographs and the former Golden Anchor, said: "Headland Future has been working tirelessly over the past five years to put together funding to regenerate the Headland, and provide a range of services for young people and the local community.

"This collection could have been lost to the Headland, and we are pleased that we have been able to save such a magnificent group of photographs."