This year's Museums & Heritage Awards were announced in a ceremony at London's Café Royal on 11 May.

The 2005 winners include the Dulwich Picture Gallery, which was voted as the UK's favourite attraction by the public.

London's Petrie Museum was handed this year's Classic Award while The National Railway Museum in York won the UK Marketing Award for its campaign to acquire the Flying Scotsman locomotive.

The best permanent exhibition award was given to The National Railway Museum at Shildon and the best temporary exhibition award to The Museum of Childhood in East London for its Must-have Toys display.

Now in their third year, the awards' judging panel received hundreds of entries spanning the attractions industry.

Anna Preedy, director of the Museums & Heritage Show, said: "We were once again overwhelmed by both the number and quality of entries we received.

"The awards provide a much needed platform to celebrate the incredible achievements of our cultural attractions and also provide us all with an opportunity to share in the wealth of knowledge and experience that exists within our industry."