A PRIMARY school teacher last night became the Ashmolean Museum’s one millionth visitor since the building reopened 10 months ago.

Diane Thomas and her daughter Laura Rolf were welcomed through the glass doors of the Beaumont Street attraction at 4.23pm by museum director Dr Christopher Brown.

The delighted pair were presented with gifts, including a one-year subscription to Friends of the Ashmolean, dinner for two at The Ashmolean Dining Room, a book on The Ashmolean, and free tickets to the current Pre-Raphaelites and Italy exhibition.

The attraction reopened on November 7 last year following a £61m extension scheme and was officially reopened by the Queen a month later.

Since then visitor numbers have trebled – prior to the re-opening the museum received about 360,000 visitors a year.

Last night, Mrs Thomas, 63, a supply teacher currently at Seer Green Primary School in Buckinghamshire, said: “I was amazed and delighted – it makes the day all the nicer.

“The museum is superb, obviously people want to come and see it in its new format, it seems to be very visitor friendly, possibly more than before.”

Mrs Thomas, who lives in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, was in Oxford for the day with her daughter, a film producer visiting from Hong Kong.

Mrs Thomas added: “I used to bring Laura here when she was little and we knew about the changes and I wanted to show her the Pre-Raphaelites. I love the paintings.

“It was a mother-daughter day out.”

Mrs Thomas said she used to bring primary school children to the museum years ago, before the re-development.

She said: “They used to love opening all the draws and seeing all the bits and bobs. We used to bring them here when we studied the Egyptians.”

Yesterday, the museum, regarded as the most significant museum of art and archaeology in Britain, had more than 3,700 visitors before it closed its doors at 6pm.

Counters above the doorway have been monitoring visitor numbers since November last year.

Miss Rolf, 31, said: “It’s nice to be back to see some culture and Oxford is beautiful. I have seen enough skyscrapers in Hong Kong to last a lifetime.”

Director Dr Christopher Brown said: “I’m delighted. We are absolutely thrilled that there has been a wonderful public response to the new Ashmolean and we are delighted to reach this figure of £1m visitors within 10 months of opening.

“This is four times our previous visitor figures and displays the impact of the restoration of the museum.”

The new building, designed by Rick Mather Architects, features six floors and a rooftop restaurant called The Ashmolean Dining Room.

Charles Cockerell’s Grade I-listed frontage from 1845 remains and inside there are 39 new galleries.

Last month, directors revealed another £5m redevelopment is planned to showcase the museum’s world famous collections from ancient Egypt.