The Amarna Princess, Bolton Museum's statuette at the centre of a forgery scam, could be exhibited in the town again.

Conman Shaun Greenhalgh and his parents fooled experts at the British Museum, Christie's and the Egyptology department at Bolton Museum into believing it was a 3,300-year-old image of the mother of King Tutankhamun.

The museum parted with £440,000 for the statuette in September, 2003, and, amid a blaze of publicity, it went on display as the highlight of their collection of artefacts in January, 2004.

It was taken off show after being revealed as a fake and has since been held by the Metropolitan Police as evidence. But now, after Judge William Morris ruled it should not be destroyed, it is possible that the Amarna Princess could be put on display once more in the town - this time in an exhibition telling her own remarkable story.

Det Con Halina Racki, from the Metropolitan Police's Fine Art Squad, who was part of the investigation into the Greenhalgh's activities, believes the public should be able to see the fake again and that it is important for more people to learn about the materials used in forgeries and the systems conmen use.

"It is a learning curve for everybody," she said. "The Amarna Princess is a good fake that has fooled a lot of people."

There have been previous exhibitions of forgeries, including one staged by the Metropolitan Police at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 2006.

Bolton Council says it will now be discussing the future of the Amarna Princess with the police, perhaps opening the way for it to come home to Bolton.

Stephanie Crossley, Bolton Council's head of culture, said: "We welcome the judge's decision and his arguments not to have the Amarna Princess destroyed, as this gives us the option to discuss its future with the Metropolitan Police's Art and Antiquities Unit."