A MUSEUM trust dedicated to the history of the carpet industry hopes to win £1.3m to set up a museum.

Consultants have been hired by the Carpet Museum Trust in Kidderminster to help prepare a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund, asking for money to set up the museum in a redundant listed carpet factory.

A lottery project planning grant of £50,000 was received from the Heritage Lottery Fund recently to help prepare the necessary documents for the bid.

The trust says a museum would boost Kidderminster's tourist economy and bring in business through educational links with universities and art colleges.

Charles Talbot, secretary of the trust, said he hoped the Heritage Lottery Fund would award them £1.3m to found the museum.

The application has to be submitted by March to avoid serious delay.

"Although there is still a long way to go, the public can be assured the determination to win through is as strong as ever," said Mr Talbot.

The trust will learn the result of the application in September and, if successful, it will proceed with the next stage of the application to prepare the museum.

Mr Talbot said: "It will be a complicated operation. We will have to work from the shell of a building and install a lift and stairs and all the other things necessary for its purpose."

Accountants and business advisers Horwath Clark Whitehill has an office in Kidderminster and is providing the trust with VAT advice. It is also the trust's auditor.

Partner Ken Bartlett said: "This project is important for the economy of Wyre Forest because, if it gets off the ground, the centre will be a magnet for both tourists and students.

"We are delighted to be involved in something so important to the community."

Trust treasurer Richard Perrin said that Wyre Forest District Council granted a planning application in May which included the change of use of Stour Vale Mill from a carpet factory to a museum.

"The Small Weavers Loft Exhibition, created and run by the Friends of the Carpet Museum Trust, a parallel group, has shown people it is possible to have a museum in Kidderminster." he said.