A ‘MINI’ McLean Museum and ‘Wee’ Watt Library are now ready for visitors as a £2 million refurbishment of their larger cousins continues.

Artefacts, archives and exhibits are on display within a temporary new home called the Inverclyde Heritage Hub — the former Business Store — on Greenock’s Cathcart Street, pictured.

Education and communities convener, Councillor Jim Clocherty, says it means people can still access the collections while their permanent homes are upgraded.

Cllr Clocherty said: “The new heritage hub is ideally located to give local people and visitors easy access to a small part of the rich and varied collections held by the Watt Library and McLean Museum.

“People will be able to access archives and artefacts related to local history and heritage and they will also be able to access genealogical records and computers with free internet access.”

The historic McLean Museum and Watt Library are widely considered as among the best municipal museums in Scotland for the outstanding collections of art, local heritage, technology and culture.

The council is investing £1.8 million towards the refurbishment work alongside a grant of £287,000 from Historic Environment Scotland.

The Inverclyde Heritage Hub is open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm.

Other features include research and study space, microfilm readers, archive services, selected museum displays, children’s activities and a coffee machine.