Museum may face probe over work for curator’s husband

The Science Museum Group (SMG), which is the umbrella organisation responsible for a number of the UK’s leading museums, said it was in the process of reviewing the payments made to Adrian Ashby, the painter and decorator husband of Helen Ashby, who is head of knowledge and collections at the York-based visitor attraction. Mr Ashby received in excess of £25,000 from the museum for work which included painting a train engine due to be named after his wife.

He received a contract to work on the restoration of the Flying Scotsman for which no supporting paperwork could be found and was paid £9,300 to make trips to Canada to work on the museum’s production of The Railway Children. A clutch of paintwork contracts was also provided without competition from other suppliers.

The National Railway Museum insisted all its commercial relationships with Mr Ashby were legitimate.

A spokeswoman for SMG said: “The Science Museum Group takes all such matters very seriously and as a matter of course will review whether an internal investigation is required by 31 August, 2012.”