Culture minister Margaret Hodge has announced that Chatham Historic Dockyard has been handed £550,000 towards a project to revitalise the Kent attraction.

The museum and library are set to be moved to the north of the 80-acre (32.4-hectare) dockyard site in order to enhance the visitor experience of the attraction, which pulled in 165,000 visitors last year. Hodge said: "Chatham Historic Dockyard has a unique place in our maritime history. Playing an active part in naval campaigns from the defeat of the Spanish Armada to the Falklands War, it offers a fascinating and evocative perspective on our island history.

"This grant will help the dockyard present its historic buildings, ships and artefacts in the best possible way, and delight and inform even more visitors in the years to come." Admiral Sir Ian Garnett, chair of the dockyard's trustees, added: "This latest grant is significant in helping us fulfill the next phase of our development. In so doing it will improve the visitor experience and increase understanding of the part that the former Dockyard played in British history."