THE York Helmet - the best surviving Anglian Helmet in Europe- has come back home after going on tour to Nottingham and Southport.

The helmet was discovered when it was struck by the claw of a mechanical digger during an archaeological dig in Coppergate.

It has been seen by more than 50,000 people at both Nottingham Lakeside Arts and at The Atkinson, Southport, as part of the Yorkshire Museum and British Museum exhibition Viking: Rediscover the Legend.

It is now back on show at the Yorkshire Museum in York for a limited time before the exhibition goes to Norwich Castle Museum next February for an eight month period,

Lucy Creighton, curator of archaeology at the Yorkshire Museum, said the helmet was one of the most iconic objects ever found in York and this was the first time it had gone on show outside of York and London.