History lovers are being invited to choose two iconic Oxford characters to be featured in a display at a new museum in the town hall.

The Museum of Oxford closed in October last year to prepare for a revamp and will reopen in June after a funding boost of more than £200,000.

The city council is investing about £100,000 over two years to create two new galleries that can be accessed from the main entrance of the town hall off St Aldate’s.

The entrance for the previous museum, which opened in 1975, was in Blue Boar Street, and staff hope the new entrance will lead to an increase in visitor numbers.

The new galleries will be called Explore Oxford and one of the displays will use characters from the city’s history to tell its story.

Museum project officer Sadie Paige said: “We want people to come forward with their suggestions for two modern-day Oxford icons who could be in the museum’s timeline.

“So far, some modern names that have been mentioned to us include Radiohead singer Thom Yorke and Harry Potter actress Emma Watson.

“We will also use the new galleries to encourage people to explore the town hall and find out more about its history, but we will have to make sure we can do this without disturbing public meetings.

“The way museums encourage people to learn has changed a lot. With the new galleries we have a chance to create something that is family-friendly without dumbing down.

“The town hall opened in 1897, the year of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, and we will open in June, around the time of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.”

The museum was threatened with closure in 2009 to save £200,000 a year, but was saved by a rescue package that saw 10 staff lose their jobs to volunteers. Before the museum closed, it had been attracting about 55,000 visitors a year.

Waste Recycling Environmental Ltd is providing £48,628 to help fund the new galleries. The Heritage Lottery Fund is also providing £43,600 for display boards and a guide booklet.

So far, museum staff have identified 12 people, from the Roman period to the early 20th century, and want the public to suggest two more icons from the 20th century to be included in the timeline.

Historic names chosen so far include marmalade maker Sarah Cooper, Thomas Hare, the architect of the town hall, and Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland stories.

affrench@oxfordmail.co.uk Send your 50-word suggestion for latter-day icons (from the 1960s onwards) to pressoffice@oxford.gov.uk Entries must be received before 5pm on Friday, March 16.