YORK'S 'family silver' is to go on show to the people this summer for the first time in the city's long history.

The Mansion House collection of silver, gold and silver plate has been hidden from public view for hundreds of years, but will be on display at Fairfax House for three months from July.

And the man organising the exhibition says he hopes that in the long term the silver will go on public display for good.

The idea for the exhibition came from the director of Fairfax House, Peter Brown, who will be offering half-price admission to York residents.

Fairfax House is owned by York Civic Trust, and Mr Brown was in charge of the restoration of the Mansion House two years ago.

He said: "One of the great hidden secrets of the Mansion House is its collection of silver - we have the cabinets to display it at Fairfax and with the Mansion House closing for work on the lift later this year, we thought it was the ideal opportunity."

He said much of the silver was routinely kept locked away in a safe in the Mansion House.

"It will be great for the people of York to have the chance to look at it," he said.

"I would like to see the Mansion House open to the public on a regular basis."

The exhibition at Fairfax House is set to fill 14 cabinets.

The collection mainly contains objects for entertaining and shows a table centrepiece of Justice, apparently gifted with the proviso that it should never be absent from any meal hosted by Lord Mayors of York.

There will also be a table re-creation from the Lord Mayor's banquet for Prince Albert, the Prince Consort, on his visit to York in 1850.

Mr Brown said: "But of particular delight in this exhibition of splendid objects is the presence of certain pieces which I can only describe as 'quirky' and certainly not as 'po-faced' or worthy as one might expect.

"Chief among these is the Charles II silver chamber pot by York maker Marmaduke Best, dated 1671 and given to the city by one Marmaduke Rawdon, a rich eccentric, in memory of his City Alderman father, Laurence."

Nick Wharton, civic secretary at the City of York Council, said: "The Mansion House will be closed for four months from August or September and after that we do plan to open it for two days a week. How much of the silver which will be on display has not yet been decided."

Admission to the exhibition which starts on July 1 will be £4 for adults and £3.75 concessions, or £2 for York residents, £1.75 concessions, with proof of address. Children accompanied by adults, free.