ONE of Colchester’s biggest tourist attractions will reopen on May 2 following a £4.2 million overhaul.

Colchester Castle Museum will now feature new displays and artefacts while offering visitors a greater impression of what life was like in Europe’s biggest surviving Norman Keep.

The museum has been closed since March 2013 while the revamp, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the European Union, Colchester Council, the Arts Council and local groups, takes place.

Robyn Llewellyn, lottery fund head for the east, said: “Colchester Castle is one of the finest surviving Norman buildings in Britain, a Scheduled Ancient Monument and Grade I listed.

“We are delighted to see the opening of the refurbished museum in sight, and look forward to the reinterpretation of some the most fascinating stories in our Island’s history.”