Proposals for the £5.5m redevelopment of an art gallery and museum in Cheltenham have been approved by the borough council.

The existing Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum, which is more than 100 years old, attracts more than 60,000 visits each year, but presently only has enough space to exhibit around a third of its collection.

The designs for the development of the attraction, by architects Berman Guedes Stretton, feature new exhibition galleries, new open access storage, dedicated education spaces, improved visitor facilities and a ground floor café.

On top of receiving planning consent, the project has received a £500,000 grant from The Monument Trust, bringing the total raised so far to £3.8m.

Jane Lillystone, museum and arts manager at Cheltenham Borough Council, said: “This is a significant grant from The Monument Trust and is excellent news for us as we move forward to the launch of the second phase of our fundraising campaign in September.

“We have now raised 70 per cent of the funds needed to start construction, the remainder of which we hope to secure by summer next year.”