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A £5million European grant to help cover the costs of building the new Museum of Liverpool has given the £31million museum project a welcome boost.

The award was made from the Merseyside Objective One programme towards the Pier Head construction project and follows approval of a £26.8million grant from the Northwest Regional Development agency (NWDA) to finance building and fitting out the museum.

Culture Minister, David Lammy, welcomed the news: “Liverpool is one of Britain’s best loved cities and most enduring tourist attractions," said the Minister. "It has given visitors from across the world so much to cherish – from the local football fields to Strawberry Fields, this is a city that has left its mark on history."

"This grant will mean that Liverpool can at last build a fitting showcase to help visitors and local residents alike to appreciate its heritage and what it continues to be able to offer.”

The proposed X-shaped museum planned for Liverpool's waterfront. © NML

The museum will be the centrepiece of a new £65 million leisure, office, retail and residential complex. Seven galleries will be spread over three floors, including a children’s space for the 75,000 school pupils expected to visit each year.

Planned exhibits include a 19th Century locomotive that ran on England’s first passenger railway line between Liverpool and Manchester; a showcase for the local people who put Liverpool on the map, and a tribute to the city’s influence on international music and sport.

“This is fantastic news, and means that just about every piece of a complex jigsaw is now in place," said David Fleming, Director of National Museums Liverpool. "Just one or two more wrinkles to iron out and then we start work on site in September."

"This will be a fabulous asset for the city and the region which will enhance the built environment and ensure that Liverpool's museums are right up there with the best in the world.”

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The state of the art facilities will replace the Museum of Liverpool life, which closed early this year. Although still attracting 300,000 visitors every year the existing museum was considered incapable of staging significant tourist exhibitions.

More than 1.6million visitors pass through the doors of the city’s eight national museums each year.