A HISTORIC piece of equipment is returning to its original home in Bradford for the first time in 40 years as the star attraction at today’s reopening of the Bradford Police Museum.

The museum, situated at City Hall, will be unveiling its prisoner-restraining chair, which is back in Bradford after spending ten years at Ripon Police and Prison Museum.

The chair was used to restrain violent prisoners in the old Bradford City Hall police cells up until 1974, when police moved to new, modern headquarters.

It was retired in 1993 and sent to Ripon in 2007 when the old police headquarters were demolished.

Now, it returns to its original home in City Hall, where it will take pride of place in the museum when it reopens today following a short break over winter.

As well as the restraining chair, visitors can visit the old police cells and Victorian courtroom, which have both recently been featured in Emmerdale and Channel 4 drama National Treasure.

Martin Baines, museum director, said: “The Bradford Police Museum is delighted that the historic prisoner restraining chair will be on view to the public in his original location for the first time in more than four decades.

“It is a unique object which helps to tell the story of crime and punishment in Bradford over the last 150 years.

“The cells where the chair will be displayed were also very recently used for filming by Emmerdale and visitors will be able to see how they would have looked just over a hundred years ago.”

Later this year the museum will be hosting a series of special events and exhibitions, on topics such as Victorian crime, murders, and international policing.

There will also be a travelling exhibition in partnership with the Ripon Police and Prison Museum.

These will appear alongside the usual displays of historic police equipment and photographs documenting 150 years of policing in Bradford, and the chance to stand in the cell which Harry Houdini escaped from in the early 1900s.

The museum reopens at 11am today, and will be open every Friday from 11am to 3pm, and every Saturday from noon to 4pm, until the end of November.

Admission to the museum costs £4 for adults, £3 for children, £3 for over-65s and disabled people, and family tickets for two adults and two children cost £12. For more information about the museum or to book group tours, call 01274 51025 or 07798 518035, email info@bradfordpolicemuseum.com, or visit the museum’s social media pages.