TRIBUTES have been paid to a long-serving museum volunteer who has stepped down after seeing it develop into a celebrated tourist attraction.

Ian Ashton, managing director of The World of James Herriot, in Thirsk, said Pauline Pengelly, who has worked to develop the attraction since 1998, a year before it opened, had been a key member of the centre's team.

He said management and staff were emotional at a send-off event for Mrs Pengelly, who has moved to the Yorkshire Dales to retire.

She said she applied for a role at the centre because she was an animal lover.

Mrs Pengelly said: "We were given a pep talk and then presented with a number of instruments to identify.

"None of us had a clue but it was tremendous fun and quite hilarious guessing what a particular instrument was.”

She said work began in a freezing warehouse in Northallerton, where many of the attraction’s artefacts and themes were prepared while the former home and veterinary surgery of Alf Wight was converted into a museum, which last month won Welcome to Yorkshire's Visitor Attraction of the Year Award.

Mr Ashton said: “Pauline will be missed by all of the the team at the World of James Herriot.

"Volunteers like Pauline are one of our key assets because they are as passionate about the story of Alf Wight and share it enthusiastically with our visitors every day."