STEAM will know in two days whether it is the 2002 European Museum of the Year.

Swindon's showpiece railway museum is just one of three in Britain shortlisted for the award, one of the most prestigious of its kind.

The others are the new Ondaatje Wing of the National Portrait Gallery and the Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore, Scotland.

The result will be announced at a ceremony in Luxembourg on Saturday.

Steam marketing manager Emma Valentine said: "We're just extremely proud that the museum has got this far. "It's a great honour and recognises the hard work of the people who have made the museum such a success."

Steam, opened in June of 2000 by the Prince of Wales, celebrates the Great Western Railway, which dominated Swindon's industrial landscape for more than a century after the mid-1800s.

If it wins the 2002 European Museum of the Year Award, the accolade will take its place among a clutch of others, including the Good Britain Guide's Wiltshire Family Attraction of the Year and the Civic Trust award.

Meanwhile, the Churchward museum is still deciding whether to take up an offer by the nearby Designer Outlet Village of the free use of one of its walls for an illuminated advertising sign.

In spite of the recognised quality of Steam, visitor numbers remain far below those needed for it to break even. Only 95,000 visited over the past 12 months, leaving council tax payers to subsidise the museum to tune of £515,000 pounds.

Many experts believe that an appalling lack of signs leading people top the museum could be a major cause. Millions of people visit the Outlet Village every year, but many remain oblivious that Steam is on the site.