North Norfolk's newest museum has been given a major boost with a trio of accolades ahead of opening for its first full season.

Sheringham Museum was officially opened in the seafront Mo building by the Duke of Kent last March after years of hard work drawing up designs and finding funding.

The �1m scheme combines the town's revamped museum with a trio lifeboats which have served Sheringham and a collection of fishing boats.

Just before its February 1 reopening it has announced passing two key industry-standard tests with flying colours and getting a glowing review from Museums Journal – the trade journal of the museum world.

As a Quality Assured Visitor Attraction The Mo achieved 'good' to 'very good' in a range of areas to do with communication and care of visitors.

One area that was identified as needing improvement was the website and a new one - www.sheringhammuseum.co.uk - has just been launched, which provides detailed and practical information for visitors, groups and schools.

In becoming an Accredited Museum, The Mo had to convince specialists from Museums Libraries and Archives Council that it met nationally-agreed standards for management, services for users, visitor facilities and collections management. The award places The Mo alongside Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service museums and the best of the county's independent museums.

Last month Museums Journal published a two-page review of the new museum pronouncing it 'a vibrant and engaging place – and an inspiration for other volunteer-run museums'.

Volunteer Coordinator Brenda Joyce said; 'It's great to get recognition from other professionals like this. Museums Journal is notorious for its high standards and sometimes harsh reviews so we were relieved and delighted that they were clearly very interested in The Mo and liked what we've done here.

'In our first year we also had lots of fantastic comments from visitors in our comments book. This has all given our volunteers a great boost and we're really looking forward to our first full season open.'

This year, The Mo will open from 1 February to 31 October. Open hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 4.30pm and Sunday from noon to 4pm. Admission costs �3.50 for adults, �3 concessions and �1.50 for children aged 5 to 16. There are changing exhibitions throughout the year and a year-round event programme.