PLANS to create a Frank Hornby museum in Merseyside are steaming ahead after a £10,000 Lottery bid was submitted.

Space is already allocated for the permanent museum at Maghull Leisure Centre, which is scheduled to open later this year. The next stage is for the museum’s interior to be designed.

Campaigners have now applied for a National Lottery Awards For All grant, with the outcome due next month.

If successful, money will also be used to finance a third Frank Hornby exhibition later this year.

To oversee the project, the Frank Hornby Trust was recently formed. Secretary John Keogh paid tribute to the famous toy model maker, who lived in Maghull until his death in 1936.

He moved to the town after he had made his fortune producing Meccano, model trains and Dinky Toys.

Mr Keogh said: “The museum will be dynamic, not stuffy – it will not be a model train museum but a social history of his life.

“He lived in Maghull all his life and was the most famous toymaker in the world – he is a huge asset to the area. There are a vast amount of Hornby, Dinky and Meccano collectors.

“Hornby did not invent Meccano until his 40s and then he became a millionaire, before becoming an MP when he was 73.