A FAMOUS North-west art gallery reopens to the public on Friday following a £4.3 million makeover.

The refurbishment of the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool has seen a 1930s extension to the Victorian building transformed into state-of-the-art gallery space.

Rooms in the city centre building which have been closed to the public for many years have been transformed into four new special exhibition galleries, a foyer, and a space for showing light-sensitive watercolours, prints and drawings.

Friday's reopening represents the end of the second phase of a £40 million National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside building project.

The scheme has been supported by £28 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund - the largest grant ever made to a museum - and a further £3.65 million awarded by the European Regional Development Fund.