AFTER being badly hit by fire in December the Dean Heritage Centre at Soudley is to reopen on Sunday February 21 with a free relaunch – and free tea and cakes!

With work still ongoing in the damaged part of the museum the management and trustees will welcome everyone to the considerable attractions of the undamaged sections, said Trustees' spokesman John Belcher.

"We were initially hoping to open on the 14th - St Valentine's Day – but with this also being the weekend of the Wyedean Rally, driving in the Forest was considered inadvisable and the 21st seemed the better date."

The Forest of Dean District Council's head of tourism and regeneration, Cllr Patrick Molyneux, will be present at the grand reopening.

Visitors will also be able to see a photo exhibition of the fire and some of the damage it caused.

Meanwhile insurance investigators had nailed the source of the fire to an electrical fault, said Mr Belcher.