IT may have survived a 500-mile "death march" across Europe in a wheelbarrow, but this accordion was in need of a little fine tuning.

The instrument, made in 1934, has been meticulously restored to its former glory by a team of North-East specialists.

The piano accordion, made by German company Hohner, was the cherished companion of Private Joe Brooksbank, a soldier with the 4th Battalion of the Green Howards.

The prisoner of war, from Shildon, County Durham was sent the instrument during the Second World War while being held at Stalag XVII.

Joe played the organ every night to cheer up the disheartened spirits of his fellow prisoners.

Since his death five years ago, the accordion had been gathering dust under his wife Nora's bed, at her home in Bishop Auckland.

She donated it to the Green Howards Museum, in Richmond, North Yorkshire, in October, and after the much publicised event, Geoff Holter, who runs a specialist accordion business in Darlington, offered to restore the instrument.

Geoff, an accordion restorer for 44 years, said: "I saw a piece on TV about the fact the accordion it had come back from travelling across Europe at the end of the war.

"I offered to work on it partly because it belonged to a former serviceman, and I'm an ex-serviceman myself.

"We were surprised it was in such good condition, considering it had been carried across Europe in a wheelbarrow."

After three weeks of hard work on the accordion, replacing the reeds, bellows and tuning mechanics, the specialists hope it will last for another 30 years.