THE open air museum dedicated to the region’s industrial heritage is celebrating another record year with visitor numbers up 11 per cent.

Beamish Museum, near Stanley in County Durham, attracted 654,357 visitors in 2014 compared with its precious record-breaking 589,474 total on 2013.

The total has doubled in five years, making Beamish the North-East’s most popular museum.

Museum director Richard Evans said: “We’re over the moon about our results for 2014 – and are very proud to say that it has been the best year Beamish has ever had.

“It has been a lot of fun and a lot of hard work – and I pay tribute to the staff and volunteers whose dedication makes Beamish the world-class experience that it is.

“We are sure that the impact of our year-on-year growth will be felt right across our fantastic region.

“More than half of all our guests are tourists on holiday – they stay in accommodation and go on to visit other attractions.

“Thanks to the income we earn ourselves, we are now able to employ more than 350 people at Beamish in a diverse range of jobs from engineers to cooks.”

Beamish was voted Large Visitor Attraction of the Year in the North East England Tourism Awards 2014.

Its £16.7m Remaking Beamish project includes a 1950s Town and Farm and a Georgian coaching inn.

It will create 95 jobs and 50 apprenticeships, and aims to attract 100,000 more visitors a year.

New exhibits will include W Smith’s Chemist and Photographer’s in The Town and the completion of Eston Church in the Georgian Landscape.

Ivor Stolliday, Chairman of Visit County Durham, said: “This is a tremendous achievement by Beamish - already one of the most important attractions in the region, and clearly building from strength to strength. “