A MUSEUM is preparing for its new season with help from a Lottery grant of more than £4,000.

Guisborough Museum, which opens in April, has used the money to buy display cabinets and computer equipment in a bid to attract more visitors.

The museum focuses on the town of Guisborough and displays a wide range of material donated by local people.

Staff at the museum said the new equipment would improve the cataloguing and displays of archive material.

Jacky Quarmby, from the museum, said: "Previously the photographs themselves have been displayed.

"It left the archivists worried that their precious legacy would be faded by light and damaged by mounting techniques.

"Now it will be possible to display copies of the photographs, using computer enhancement to improve the definition, and enlarging those on display to make them easier to see.

"Ultimately, we hope a computer will be available in the museum, where visitors will be able to look at items from the museum's archive that are not on display, or even video clips of supplementary material, which may improve their understanding of the exhibits."

The display cabinets are being made by the Museum of Antiquities, at Newcastle University.