Record numbers of visitors are flocking to the county museum.

Worcestershire County Co-uncil officer Robin Hill said Worcestershire County Mus-eum in Hartlebury, near Stourport-on-Severn, had its best November since 2002, attracting 1,500 visitors. He said that November was normally a quite period for the museum.

The record figures come as a boost to staff as the building - which has some 80,000 items in its collection including gipsy caravans and period costumes - was recently revamped at a cost of £750,000.

The work included the addition of a new cafe, lift, reception area and gift shop. It has taken two years to complete and during that time the museum had to close for long periods of time due to safety reasons.

Mr Hill said: "We're tremendously encouraged because we've just opened a new shop and people are coming specifically to use that, as well as visiting the museum. We have so much more to offer now and that's why the visitors are coming - because museums have modernised and are no longer fussy, dusty old places.

"This year was okay for us but we had to close for the refurbishment works so we're really looking forward to 2007 when we don't have any disruptions."

The news from the county museum follows reports in the national press that more people visited museums and art galleries than attended all of league football matches last year.

Mr Hill said he believed that part of the reason visitor numbers had increased generally across the county was down to the variety of museums on offer, including the popular Worcester City Museum and Art Gallery.

Angie Bishop, visitor services manager at the city museum, said they had seen an increase of 10,000 visitors to about 66,000 between April 2005 and March 2006 compared with the previous year.

She said: "We're obviously really pleased about it as we're always looking for ways to increase our visitors and put on different events.

"I think there's certainly been an increased interest in history and the past and there's nothing like seeing an object or painting. You can read books, look at pictures, go on the internet but it's never the same as seeing the item in real life."