THE new director of Bromsgrove's premier visitor attraction has pledged to get the museum back on track.

Angela Gill takes over as director of Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings after a difficult period, which has seen the death of its previous director and a fall in visitor numbers.

"My job is to help get Avoncroft back on track after what has been a very difficult period for everyone involved in the museum," said Angela, aged 33.

"The task is to lift morale and get people looking to the future so that we have a clear vision of what we want Avoncroft to be. There is also a need to increase visitor numbers."

Angela said staff had worked very hard and been very loyal during the illness of the previous director, Dr Simon Pain, who died earlier this year

Avoncroft's problems have been compounded by the unusually wet summer that hit visitor numbers to the site, which houses one of the best collections of historic buildings in the country.

Angela comes from North Wales and began her career working for the museum service of Wrexham Borough Council.

She is familiar with the Midlands having studied at University College Worcester and the Ironbridge Institute at the University of Birmingham where she completed a masters degree in heritage management and industrial archaeology.

Before coming to Avoncroft, she worked at the Haslemere Educational Museum in Surrey and the Powell-Cotton Museum in Kent, which has a unique collection of African animal skins and skeletons.

"I have been aware of Avoncroft and am excited at having the chance to work with the team to take the museum into a new stage of its development," she said.