Emergency team on stand-by to save heritage

The County Record Office in North Yorkshire will become a centre of expertise and excellence to protect scores of collections in the event of an emergency.

Staff and volunteers from museums and heritage organisations in North Yorkshire will be trained to ensure they are prepared for a crisis.

The new centre will also provide emergency equipment for dealing with fires or flooding to help protect artefacts and archives. The rapid response centre is the first of its kind in North Yorkshire, and will mirror similar operations in Beverley, Harewood, Rotherham and Wakefield.

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member responsible for the Record Office, Coun Chris Metcalfe, claimed the emergency centre is vital.

He added: “North Yorkshire is England’s largest county so it is also crucial that we have an emergency centre nearer to hand than in West, South or East Yorkshire.”

Among the organisations which will benefit are the York Museums Trust, the York Archaeological Trust, the Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond, Bedale Museum, the World of James Herriot in Thirsk and Harrogate Museums.

The new crisis unit is being set up through a grant of almost £10,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

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