Priceless relics may never be seen after £42m grant block

The image is not unlike the one which greets the visitor on entering the hidden chambers of Bolton Museum.

Walking into the darkened vaults, deep beneath the elegant public galleries, one is filled with the same sense of wonder that Egypt's tomb raiders must have experienced all those years ago.

Inside is an Aladdin's cave of priceless ancient treasures, known to only a handful of staff and a string of enthusiasts, who travel to Bolton from all over the globe to marvel at their beauty.

The tragedy is that, like many of Egypt's undiscovered secrets, some of these items will never see the light of day.

Of the 10,000 relics from the ancient civilisation brought home by Bolton's Victorian traders following their adventures on the cotton-rich banks of the Nile, only a tenth make it on show upstairs.

Hopes of a major expansion were raised earlier this year, but were dashed after the Government baulked at handing over the £42 million needed to fund the project.

Fears are now growing among the town's political leaders that if the museum, once the pride of the Bolton, fails to keep pace with its rivals it could soon become a fading glory.

But museum bosses are fighting back.

As discussions continue in a bid to rescue plans to transform other areas of Le Mans Crescent - set to be vacated by the law courts and police station - into new galleries, museum bosses are planning their biggest coup to date.

Experts are attempting to raise the £400,000 needed to purchase a 3,300 year old statuette which would become the centrepiece of the museum's Egyptian collection - already considered one of the best in Britain.

It is hoped the capture of the piece - believed to be a sculpture of Tutankhamun's sister-in-law - would secure the worldwide status of the museum's collection and bring admirers to Bolton from all over the world.

However, despite the promise of a £75,000 grant from the National Arts Collection Fund, museum bosses are still anxiously waiting to find out whether the National Heritage Memorial Fund will cough-up the balance. Angela Thomas, keeper of Egyptology and Archeology at the Museum, said: "This statuette would really put Bolton on the map, it would make us recognised across the world.

"People may look at pictures and think 'why do they want to buy this? - its broken' but that is the Philistines' view. It is a hugely important piece."

Ironically, the statuette, now earmarked for a role as the museum's great redeemer, could have had a very different fate.

Unaware of its ancient origins, its current owner reluctantly turned down an offer of £500 from a private collector who thought it would make no more than a pleasant piece of garden furniture. The item has been in the family of the unnamed Boltonian since an ancestor picked it up as part of a house clearance at the home of the deceased Forth Earl of Egremont in the 19th Century.

Yet despite the strong possibility that it could raise over a million ponds at auction, he has offered it to the museum in a cut-price deal in the hope it will remain in Bolton.

It was Angela who realised the statuette's true significance.

She said: "We got a call from a gentleman saying he had something we might be interested in.

"I wasn't expecting very much but when I got there I couldn't believe my eyes - it is the most significant find I have ever come across."

Despite the loss of the statuette's head, arms and feet, Egyptologists believe it to be one of the four daughters of Queen Nefertiti, the step mother of Tutankhamun and the most powerful woman of the ancient civilisation.

The 20ins statuette, which is made of a soft white stone called alabaster, is believed to be one of only three of its kind in the world, with two smaller similar pieces in museums in Paris and the Philadelphia.

As well as its stunning Egyptian collection, the museum also has thousands of other artifacts which lie unseen by the public eye.

More than 300,000 butterflies, moths and beetles, 15,000 flies, 2,000 mammals of all shapes and 50,000 molluscs are stored in freezers below ground. There is also a red panda which came from the markets of India courtesy of natural history broadcaster Roy Lancashire, a 10,000-year-old dear skull, whalebones and a pink flamingo - the latter being Lord Lever's favourite pet and donated to the museum on its death to be stuffed for prosperity.

Angela said: "If we had more space then there would be many more items which we would be able to display in a way which explains their significance.

"It is a shame that a museum such as Bolton's has all these wonderful items without the people of the town being able to see and enjoy them."

Residents of Bolton - who have enjoyed the museum for more than 100 years - should be hoping their council chiefs are listening.

Five reasons to go to Bolton Museum

1. Pillars of the temple of Herishef: These pink granite pillars, excavated from Heracelopolis, were once part of a great temple. It was built in around 1,300BC by the feared King Ramesses II - who famously defeated the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh.

2. The mummy of a young girl: Despite being between four and eight-years-old when she died, this Egyptian youngster looks no larger than a modern day toddler. Tests to her bones have revealed she contracted tuberculosis, a common killer in ancient Egypt, and suffered severe illness.

3. Death mask: This beautiful green, red and gold death mask dates back to the first century AD. It would have been designed for and worn by a wealthy and respected member of society on the sealing of his tomb.

4. Wooden Funeral Boat: This sculpted wooden boat, which depicts the deceased as a passenger, dates back as far as 2,000BC. It would have been buried with them to symbolise the journey from earth to the afterlife.

5. Mummy of a crocodile: The body of this young reptile measures around 4ft long and would probably have been laid to rest in a animal cemetery. Found in the third century BC, the crocodile was respected by the Egyptians for its power and ferocity.