Historic model collection box more than a hundred years old is back in business at Whitby Lifeboat Museum

It is now pride of place at Whitby's lifeboat museum, which is undergoing a renovation of its own, thanks to a painstaking project by the Coxswain Howard Fields.

A photo, believed to be taken in 1909, shows the collection box on the stand which still exists today, in front of the John Fielden lifeboat which was lost during the Rohilla disaster in 1914 when the passenger boat ran aground off Whitby.

"It is amazing to think that people have been dropping coins into this very model since at least 1909. Howard has made sure the model lifeboat is secure enough to use as a collection box while retaining its rustic charm that tells a story of its age."

The museum is undergoing a major redevelopment thanks to a generous legacy and is expected to re-open this July. The museum, which was also the town's former boathouse, still has one of the RNLI's oldest rowing lifeboats on display, Robert and Ellen Robson.