A £2m project has been announced that will transform one of the region’s major attractions.

The interior of the award-winning Yorkshire Museum in York will be given a complete new look during the work.

The trust which runs the museum plan to create a "truly innovative" home for the extensive collections.

Work will start on the refurbishment in November 2009 and if all goes according to plan it will be relaunched on August 1 next year - Yorkshire Day.

The trust’s chief executive, Janet Barnes, said: "The museum is home to a thousand stories which can be told through some of the most significant archaeological finds and scientific collections in Europe.

"It is the aim of York Museums Trust to give such objects and stories their deserved place in a museum that can inspire the 21st-century visitor.

"With this investment we hope to create such a space to proudly show off York’s treasures and also to refurbish the fabulous interior of this Grade One listed building which has been hidden for many years."

The project, called Letting in the Light, will see much of the relatively modern interior walls removed to create a more open and welcoming space.

The city’s Roman heritage will be the central theme for the new look museum, with major exhibitions also highlighting its strong medieval and natural history collections.

The trust has already secured £200,000 from the DCMS/Wolfson Foundation, £200,000 from Renaissance in the Regions and £300,000 from the Monument Trust.

The City of York Council has granted a further £800,000 if match funding is secured. A number of other trusts and funding bodies have been applied to, to raise the rest of the funds.