Flooding forces museum to close

Staff hope the museum will reopen in a few days

A museum in Derby has been forced to close for repairs after it was damaged by flooding caused by heavy rainfall.

Some of the display areas in the Pickford's House Museum - known as the Museum of Georgian Life and Costume - have been affected.

An internal gutter in the roof overflowed into the house which also affected the electricity supply.

A spokeswoman for the museum said the swift action of staff helped to prevent substantial damage to exhibits.

Staff managed to move several of the displays but items of furniture and costumes have been damaged.

Derby City Council's head of museums, Anneke Bambery, said she was not sure how long the museum would be closed but hoped it would only be a matter of days.

"I'm really proud of the way staff responded. We were able to minimise any ill-effects.

"We do occasionally get very heavy bouts of rain and unfortunately this has happened."