MULTI-million pound plans to make Dorset County Museum a 'world-class' contemporary exhibition space are being unveiled to the public in Dorchester to let them have their say on the project.

The project, 'Tomorrow's Museum for Dorset', aims to create new gallery spaces, a learning centre and expand Dorset County Museum in Dorchester to enhance visitors experience and access to thousands of unseen items.

The plans will be on show in the foyer of the museum from August 9 to 19.

Director of the museum, Dr Jon Murden and development manager Gabriella Crouch are at the heart of the project and are passionate about getting the public on board with the plans, which are being partly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

The total cost of the plans is £13.2 million, with £9.9 million coming from a fund grant by the HLF.

The rest of the money, £3.3 million, must be raised by the museum by 2017 in order to secure the grant.

Gabriella said: "We have developed quite significantly. We are now at stage two and are asking for people to come in August to look at the plans and feedback what they think.

"This is where we start to get to the nitty gritty part.

"We want people to see what is going on. Its important to have people involved in the plans and meet the team and architects."

Gabriella said the museum is confident it can raise the £3.3 million to unlock the HLF grant thanks to the generosity of the public. The museum hopes the changes will put them on the same level as national museums.

Dr Murden said: "It's transformative of the collections. We has 1.5 per cent of the museum collections on display. The rest is stored in buildings around Dorset."

The representatives of the museum said this is just 'the tip of an iceburg' with the invisible collections including the largest Thomas Hardy collection in the world and archaeology from the South Dorset Ridgeway.

*Visit the museum to find out more about the plans and have your say.