Wandsworth Council has announced that the town's new museum could open this summer after a 20-year lease was agreed for the building set to house the attraction.

Wandsworth Museum, an independent trust formed following a £2m donation from the Hintze Family Charitable Foundation, is in line for a May or early June opening at its new West Hill library building home.

A 50-year loan agreement has also been signed that will enable the museum to display 10,000 historical and cultural artefacts accumulated by the council, while the lease agreement means no rent will be charged for five years.

Wandsworth Council leader Edward Lister said: "The final legal hurdle has now been cleared and the preparations are now in full swing for a summer opening of this exciting new museum.

"The new museum is going to be very different to the one it replaces. It will offer a much more exciting and interactive learning experience for local people and schools. There will be so much more to it than simply putting artefacts in glass cases or on shelves."

Museum chair Dorothy Hintze added: "Our children grew up enjoying the wonderful benefits the old museum provided and we feel it is only right this legacy is built on and passed to future generations."