ONE of Inverclyde's most popular tourist attractions made a roaring comeback with a smash hit online tour.

The award winning Fire Museum in Greenock opened its doors for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak, to take visitors on a virtual behind the scenes tour.

In normal times the museum welcomes thousands of cruise ship tourists and other visitors every year, but it has been forced to close during lockdown.

The team got back in action - along with a number of other local attractions - in this year's Doors Open Day with a difference.

The online Inverclyde tours, which also included the iconic Wemyss Bay Railway Station and the Royal Observer Corps Monitoring Post, proved very popular - with over 1,000 people tuning in.

Museum volunteer Graeme Kirkwood said: "We have not been able to open back up yet because there are so many restrictions and we wouldn't be able to let people try on the uniforms or go inside the fire engines.

"We usually open every Sunday, but we have only had four this year.

"We'd normally open for the big cruise liners but that has all stopped just now.

"So this was a great way to show people the fire museum and what is inside."

Some of the highlights on the film included the vintage fire engine which served Gourock up until the 1970s.

The museum, which was Greenock's fire station until 1960, is a favourite feature of the annual Doors Open weekend.

This year 10 venues took part, including local churches, and the council gave people a look behind the scenes at the historic Municipal Buildings.

The films will be made available on the new Discover Inverclyde tourist page for people to watch.

Provost Martin Brennan said: “The virtual doors open day saw over 1,100 people discover Inverclyde’s fantastic visitor offer.

"With so many restrictions in place around public events to protect public health it has become a bit of a doors closed day this year for many venues.

"It is fantastic to see that this hasn’t stopped many of our wonderful places taking part.

"Supported by the council’s own events officer, venues had a range of short digital and 360 degree tours created to share online."