A fake Egyptian statue has returned to the museum in Bolton which was tricked into paying £440,000 for it.

Bolton Council bought the 20-inch Princess Amarna in 2003 after it was authenticated as 3,300 years old by the Egyptology department at Christie's and the British Museum.

In fact, the figurine of the granddaughter of King Tutankhamun was crafted by master forger Shaun Greenhalgh in his garden shed in just three weeks.

Following Greenhalgh's conviction for forgery, the statue is now the property of London's Metropolitan Police and part of a wider exhibition on fake art and antiquities.

Bolton Council's assistant director of adult and community services, Stephanie Crossley, said: "After much publicity around the Amarna Princess, we are pleased to be able to display the statue as part of an informative exhibition which educates the public about forgers rather than glamorises crime.

"The Fakes and Forgeries exhibition was very well received in London at the Victoria and Albert Museum and we are honoured to be able to host it in Bolton."

She added: "The Greenhalgh case had a very high profile at the time and we hope people will take the opportunity to visit the exhibition and discover the seriousness of fakes and forgeries in the art world."

Other fake works created in the style of famous artists Banksy and Tracey Emin will also feature in the prestigious exhibition at Bolton Museum, alongside a mock-up of the garden shed where Greenhalgh created his bogus masterpieces.

Greenhalgh, of Bromley Cross, Bolton, was jailed for four years and eight months in 2007 after he admitted selling faked and forged works of art as genuine and laundering the money made.

The free Fakes and Forgeries exhibition opens at the museum on Saturday, April 16.