HISTORIC film which has lain unseen in a Skipton garage for half a century could be restored and shown publicly once again.

The Yorkshire Film Archive Trust is to examine the film of Skipton, which may date back to 1910, and, if possible, restore it so it can be shown once more.

The film came to light after an article in the Craven Herald's Through the Years column referred to a show in 1954 at the Odeon (now the Bliss nightclub).

The films showing gala and Whitsuntide processions through the town were said to be in the possession of Odeon chief projectionist Albert Rennison and the Herald wondered what had become of them.

Mr Rennison's son, Roy, contacted the Herald, to say the old films were in his garage and had been there since the 1950s.

Sue Howard, director of the Yorkshire Film Archive Trust, said the earliest films of Skipton and district in the Trust's database were from the 1930s and any additions from before that would be of great historical value.

However, she warned that the films were almost certainly nitrate-based and could have deteriorated beyond repair.