The refurbishment of a Leyland museum has been delayed by bugs invading some of the collection hosted at the attraction.

Plans were approved in June for the restoration of the South Ribble Museum and Exhibition Centre.

The Grade II-listed venue, on Church Road, has been closed since 2020 – and although work is now under way, it has been stymied by a series of issues that have emerged since the project began.

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Asked for an update at a meeting of South Ribble and Chorley councils’ shared services committee, joint chief executive Chris Sinnott acknowledged that progress had so far been slow.

“The more we look into the building, the more problems the building has,” he explained.

“And when you’ve got problems with…a museum, [which] is very full of a collection, [then] every time we find a problem we have to engage specialist people to deal with the various…infestations and mould and things that we keep on [discovering].

“I keep learning about different types of bugs that can burrow their way into books and other things – so [that’s] one of the reasons why it’s moving quite so slowly,” Mr. Sinnott said.

He told the committee South Ribble councillors would consider what the “focus” of the museum should be in due course.

The building dates back more than 400 years and was originally a grammar school. When open to the public, the museum offers a permanent exhibition upstairs and an ever-changing display gallery in the old school room on the ground floor.

The repairs that were given the go-ahead over the summer include roof, window and other structural upgrades.

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