THE Black Country Living Museum has got the ball rolling as it tries to secure funding for its multi-million pound expansion plans.

The museum has applied for £9.8m from the Heritage Lottery Fund to begin phase one of the masterplan, which will see the museum turn its face to Castle Hill and create a new car park and visitor centre, which would lead to a bustling 1940s-1960s town, featuring a working library, new shops, restaurants, a corner pub, housing and a bowling green.

Heritage Lottery Fund applications are assessed in two rounds, and if successful, this first stage of the project - which is financially supported in principle by the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership - will allow the museum to carry out significant historic research and detailed planning proposals in order to complete a second round bid in December 2018.

Museum director and chief executive, Andrew Lovett, said: “We are delighted to now be in a position to submit this funding bid, which has been three years in the making.

"If successful, this development will be a significant one and will allow us to complete the museum’s story.

"We want to expand and improve our visitors’ experience, enable more people to understand the true significance of the Black Country’s heritage and in doing so, play a major role in the wider regeneration of Dudley by increasing our visitor numbers from 300,000 to 500,000 per year.”