The day-to-day lives of the people of Bristol, past and present, could become the subject of a new museum in the city.

Bristol is bidding for a �14m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to set up a museum of life in the city.

Plans for the 'Museum of Bristol' would see the Industrial Museum extensively remodelled to make room for the thousands of exhibits now in storage.

The proposed attraction would be a central part of the city's bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2008.

Boost visitors

The council hope remodelling the present museum on Harbourside will boost visitor numbers from 100,000 a year to 250,000.

They have already set aside �2m towards the cost, but hope lottery cash will boost that total considerably.

The money would be used to refurbish the former cargo shed and double the existing public space.

It would also allow thousands of exhibits which are currently out of sight to be catalogued, conserved and put on display.

Deputy leader of Bristol City Council Helen Holland said: "We want to tell the story of Bristol through the themes of people, time and place, to make it relevant to people's lives today.

"We know there is great interest in and enthusiasm for Bristol's past as a way of understanding the present."

Top priority

She added: "Creating a Museum of Bristol was voted one of the city's top ten priorities and it is a key project in our bid to be Capital of Culture in 2008.

"We are particularly keen to make many more exhibits accessible to the public as at present less than 10% of what we hold is on display at any one time."

Bristol's Museums' Service has nearly two million artefacts in its collections, which have been collected over the last 200 years.

Many of them chronicle Bristol's importance as a trading port and industrial centre and have not been seen by the public for many years.

The Heritage Lottery Fund's decision on the bid to build a 'Museum of Bristol' is expected in July 2003.