(Our video shows Kirsty Young and the Arts Fund judging team visiting Blists Hill Victorian Museum on April 21, 2010.)

Staff at a Shropshire tourist attraction bidding for a national award and £100,000 in prize money today issued a message to county residents: Vote! Vote! Vote!

The General Election may be over but Blists Hill Victorian Museum needs votes if it is to take the Art Fund Prize. The honour is worth £100,000 and the Ironbridge attraction is currently running second according to at least one bookie.

Out ahead as favourite is the Ulster Museum in Belfast at 15/8 with the The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in Coventry at 11/4 and the famous Ashmolean Museum in Oxford at 10/3.

Bookmaker Victor Chandler’s make Blists Hill second in the running at 9/4 with less than a month to go before the winner is announced on June 30.

The online firm’s spokesman Dave Jenkins reckons the Shropshire museum has a very real chance of picking up the prize.

Influence

He said: “There is an online vote where the public can have their say on the competition and so far Blists Hill is neck and neck with the Ulster Museum.

“A judging panel will ultimately make the final decision but the voting shows that Blists Hill is a popular choice to bag the prize.”

Blists Hill and the Ulster Museum currently have about 35 per cent of the vote, with the Ashmolean on 19 per cent and the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum trailing with 11 per cent.

Paul Gossage, a spokesman for Blists Hill, today said: “We are jointly leading the field but this is a marathon not a sprint. So my message to everyone is to get online and vote and help us win this prestigious prize.”

The Arts Fund Prize judging panel this year is chaired by TV and radio presenter Kirsty Young. She admitted to being “blown away” by Blists Hill when she visited.

• To vote log on to www.artfundprize.org.uk

By Simon Hardy