PEOPLE are being asked to search their homes for unused items as part of plans to create a heritage museum.

Residents in Northallerton are being encouraged to help Hambleton District Council and the Northallerton and Villages Community Forum (NVCF) in the catalogue of artefacts for a planned museum in the town.

The council, in partnership with the NVCF, said they were planning ways they could create a “museum or heritage centre” for the public to use.

Councillor Peter Wilkinson, deputy leader of Hambleton District Council, said: “There is a great deal of interest in creating a museum or heritage centre in the town but we need to understand the volume of material available first. It will also help create a critical mass of support for such a scheme."

The council said it was asking residents to search lofts, cupboards and garages, for any items of interest and to bring them to a heritage day for a valuation and catalogue by experts.

A spokesperson for the council said: “Anyone with items for cataloguing is asked to complete an ‘expression of interest’ form and return it to the district council by Friday, August 2.

“Items will then be considered by a panel of experts who will make a decision on whether they are suitable for display. Those that get the go ahead will then be part of the heritage day at The Forum in Northallerton on September 8, where they will be photographed and filmed there.”

In December district councillor Kevin Hardisty claimed the town needed a heritage-related attraction.

Councillor Hardisty said: “Whilst we all love Northallerton we don’t actually have an awful lot of history.

"We have the fact the Bishop of Durham created a palace which is in now what was a cemetery and they established a grammar school in 1322 and even established a house of correction, but we don’t have a castle like Skipton, Helmsley or Pickering, but we do have a fantastic retail offer.”

For more information telephone the council on 01609-767223.