INSECT experts are celebrating a lottery windfall which has secured the future of the city’s bug collection.

The Museum of Natural History has been given more than £60,000 by the Heritage Lottery Fund to help put more than a million creepy-crawlies back on show.

Dating back hundreds of years the unique collection spans almost the entire history of British entomology and will be used to inspire future generations.

It is currently not accessible to the public but thanks to National Lottery players that could be about to change.

The bug collection is stored in museum’s historic Westwood Room, currently not open to visitors, so it will be restored to its former glory.

Initially, the HLF has given £63,7000 to help move the project progress ahead of a full grant application.The money has been given to help the Oxford University museum move forward its HOPE (Heritage, Outreach and Preservation of Entomology) programme.

Professor Paul Smith, director of the museum, said: “The Heritage Lottery Fund is founded on the principles of caring for and providing access to our country’s heritage, so we are very pleased to receive this initial support for our HOPE for the Future project.

“We will significantly improve storage and access for an important and irreplaceable collection of British insects, while simultaneously reaching out to schools and rural communities with an extensive education and outreach programme.”

To get the project underway, new staff, curatorial apprentices and volunteers will move over one million insect specimens from the Westwood Room to new higher-quality storage space with improved access. Relocation to better storage conditions is vital to safeguard the future of the collection.

Founded in 1860, the Westwood Room has stored insects since the museum first opened.

It features exquisitely painted wall borders, ceiling beams and entomological detailing, including a carved interpretation of stag beetle and hawkmoth life cycles on the stone fireplace.

It’s Pre-Raphaelite decoration and architecture will be restored as part of the project, creating a beautiful new public space for a variety of uses.

The funding will also sees parts of the collection taken into schools and rural communities so everyone can learn from it.

Prof Smith said: “We aim to inspire an interest in Britain’s natural environment and to safeguard natural heritage for future generations to access.”