AN expert paper conservator has completed an internship at the North Yorkshire county record office.

Ruth Partington, 31, from Northallerton, was able to undertake the two-month placement after receiving £5,000 from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust.

Miss Partington graduated from Birmingham University and studied for a degree in conservation at Camberwell College of Arts.

She said: "I had been volunteering two days a week at the record office since September last year, while working full time as a conservation assistant with the National Trust.

"This meant working a seven-day week.

"The scholarship meant I was able to benefit from a continuous period of work experience.

"It was a rare and exciting opportunity for me to increase my skills through extensive practical experience.

"The projects I was involved with at the record office ranged from badly damaged parchment deeds and maps to 19th and 20th Century works of art on paper by artists such as Sir Edwin Landseer and EH Shepard."

After the placement, Miss Partington started work as a conservator at the Middlesborough Institute of Modern Art.

The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust aims to improve education in modern and traditional crafts and trades in the UK.

Visit www.qest.org.uk for details.