St Albans' Town Hall will be transformed into a museum with a basement gallery over the next five years as part of a multi-million pound redevelopment project.

St Albans City and District Council's 10-year vision to improve the City's museums includes creating a new museum and revamping and extending another.

The existing Museum of St Albans will be relocated to the Grade 11 listed Town Hall to create a New Museum and Gallery (NMG) showcasing the City's Roman history.

The new location will provide more exhibition space by means of a new basement area and mezzanine galleries.

The council, which is investing £1.75m in the project, has submitted a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for £3m of funding.

The existing Museum of St Albans in Hatfield Road suffers from being located away from city centre, while the Town Hall is situated close to the local historical attractions.

The 10-year plan also includes the expansion and improvement of Verulamium Museum to provide more exhibition space. The museum will also get additional educational facilities over a 10-year time frame as well as an extension to the existing building to provide an extra 625 sq m (6,727sq ft) of public space.

The vision also makes provision for Verulamium Museum to be turned into a centre of excellence for the understanding of St Albans' pre-Roman and Roman period.

Councillor Mike Wakely, St Albans City and District Council, said: "A clear funding strategy is in place to turn the old Town Hall into a wonderful new museum and gallery.

"This is an exciting time for St Albans Museums and I urge anyone interested in helping make these plans become a reality to come forward. Not only do we need monetary donations, we also need people to help organise fundraising events and to provide support in other ways."