Beamish museum has been awarded a Government grant after being named among the best in Britain.

Beamish will share a windfall of almost £750,000 with Bowes Museum, which will be spent making them more accessible to visitors.

The award was announced by arts minister Tessa Blackstone this week.

The two attractions are to receive a sizeable chunk of the £5.2m to be spent on the most important collections held at non-national museums and galleries around the country.

The cash, which will support projects running until the end of March 2004, comes under the Designated Museum Challenge Fund, created to recognise the finest museums and galleries in the country.

The news comes as veteran Sunderland councillor Brian Dodds takes on a key role at the award-winning museum.

Coun Dodds, a Sunderland city councillor for 27 of the last 32 years, has been elected chairman of the joint committee for the museum.

Coun Dodds, 62, takes over from fellow Sunderland councillor John Mawston, who stood down from the position after 15 years.

Having worked with marine engineering equipment in his younger days, Coun Dodds has an interest in many of the exhibits at the museum.