THE classic children's toy Meccano is the main attraction at one of the most spectacular exhibitions ever held at a Teesside museum.

The exhibition at Kirkleatham Hall Museum, Redcar, celebrates the 100th anniversary of the popular toy, which on Tuesday marked a century since it was granted a UK patent.

The exhibition will look at the development of Meccano, with working models of the Transporter Bridge, fairground rides, traction engines and cranes. There will also be displays of Hornby trains and Dinky toys, which are also made by Meccano.

A special area with boxes of modern Meccano has been set aside for people to make their own models and it is hoped that there will be regular, daily demonstrations of the exhibits, from 11am until 3pm.

Phil Philo, curator of the museum, said: "Meccano really deserves a revival. Maybe the 'wow' factor has been superceded by other technology, and children have lost a lot of the manipulative manual skills needed, but this is a fantastic collection."

The exhibition runs until April 22, Tuesdays to Sundays, 10am until 4pm.