ONE of the region’s favourite tourist attractions broke an attendance record over Easter.

Beamish Museum, near Stanley, Couinty Durham, attracted 5,600 visitors on both Good Friday and Easter Saturday and a total of 30,000 throughout the week, which could rank as its best-ever trading week.

Since the start of April 60,000 people have visited the acclaimed open air museum dedicated to the region’s industrial heritage, 24 per cent up on last year.

The museum is on track to beat its busiest-ever year in 2013/14, when it welcomed 589,474 visitors.

It is taking on an extra 40 people this spring, bringing the workforce to more than 300 .

Museum director Richard Evans said: "It’s been an incredibly busy Easter holidays for us at Beamish.

“Thanks to the good weather and new attractions, such as our 1940s Home Farm and Pit Pony Stables set in the early 1900s, we've seen record numbers of visitors coming to enjoy our living museum.

“On both Good Friday and Easter Saturday we welcomed more visitors than we have ever seen before in a single day – more than 5,600 people on both days.

“Last week we welcomed more than 30,000 people – more than half tourists from outside our region.

“This is great news not just for us at Beamish but for the whole region – meaning we can continue to invest and develop our museum, helping us attract even more visitors and create jobs."