Trust takes over Burns cottage

Robert Burns was born in Alloway in Ayrshire

The conservation charity behind plans for a �21m Robert Burns Birthplace Museum is set to take control of the cottage where the poet was born.

The Burns Cottage and Museum in Alloway will be handed over the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) on Friday.

It is part of a transfer of assets from the Burns Monument Trust and South Ayrshire Council.

About �4m in funding still needs to be raised for the museum, which the NTS hopes to have open in 2010.

The cottage, its artifacts and original manuscripts, are being donated by the Burns Monument Trust.

South Ayrshire Council is handing over land and the visitor attraction, Tam o'Shanter Experience, valued at �2.8m.

NTS chairman, Shonaig Macpherson, said: "We are confident that the new museum will attract people from across the globe as well as from Scotland to Alloway

"This enables us to begin the next phase of our fundraising activities to deliver the new museum.

"We look forward to achieving our ambitious vision in Alloway and creating the museum and welcoming the thousands of visitors who flock there every year to learn more about one of our most iconic writers."