AMUSEUM which is home to the world's first steam turbine powered ship - the Turbinia - is to get a £500,000 grant.

Newcastle's Discovery Museum has been awarded the cash to help refurbish displays around the popular exhibit.

Officials said that the cash will be used to create a computer-controlled interactive display around the ship which, at 30m long, is the largest exhibit in the Blandford Square museum.

Built on the Tyne by Charles Parsons in 1894, she was the first ship powered by steam turbines. When launched in 1897, she was the fastest ship in the world.

The new displays will include a plasma screen and a series of interactive exhibits demonstrating how turbines work and how electricity is produced.

Museum bosses also plan to spend some of the money on three other projects.

As the North-East is noted for its great inventors and industrialists a new interactive display will be introduced highlighting the three great pioneers which Discovery Museum receives the most inquiries about.

It will feature George and Robert Stephenson, the Stockton to Darlington railway pioneers, focusing particularly on their role in the first passenger railways.

Joseph Swan, inventor of the first light bulbs, will also be included, as is Parsons, whose work on steam turbines made swift travel possible by land, sea and air. Parsons also laid the foundations for power generation around the world.

The grant has been awarded by ReDiscover, the National Lottery-sponsored renewal fund for science centres and museums across the UK,

It has arrived just as the museum is approaching a landmark in its £12.25m redevelopment.

The new entrance leading into the huge Turbinia Hall opens to visitors in July, marking the completion of the structural redevelopment of the museum.

The ReDiscover grant will also be used to create a range of learning resources, including a Science Take Away pack of projects to try at home.

There will also be a series of Discovery Information Stations providing a guide to the whole museum.

The ReDiscover fund is a joint venture between the Millennium Commission, the Wellcome Trust and the Wolfson Foundation and represents the first major new partnership between the National Lottery and large grant-making charities.

The Discovery Museum is open Monday to Saturday, from 10am to 5pm, and on Sundays, from 2pm to 5pm. Admission is free