Bayeux Tapestry arrives in UK overnight accompanied by police escort

The Bayeux Tapestry has arrived in the UK for the first time in 970 years, the British Museum has confirmed.

The tapestry was transported by lorry from a secret location in France overnight via the Channel Tunnel, chaperoned by a police escort.

The heavily guarded journey coincided with France’s victorious World Cup clash against Morocco, which saw heightened security and stringent crackdowns across many French cities to prevent disorder between rival fans.

According to the British Museum, the Metropolitan Police Service and Kent Police “transported the 11th-century embroidery safely from Folkestone to London in one of the most significant international museum loans ever undertaken between the two countries”.

The artefact, packed in a large aluminum paravant designed to minimise travel vibrations, arrived at the British Museum at around 3.15am. It was lowered out of the lorry in front of a select crowd, including the French ambassador to the UK, Hélène Tréheux-Duchêne, and the director of the British Museum, Nicholas Cullinan.

• Feature | A thousand years in the making: The Bayeux Tapestry loan

The museum has worked for the past year with France’s Ministry of Culture, including the General Directorate of Heritage and Architecture and the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs of Normandy, the UK Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the specialised transport company Hizkia to arrange the transport of the tapestry.

“Over the coming weeks the tapestry will undergo condition checks before being carefully installed within a custom showcase case ahead of the exhibition opening,” said the BM.

The Bayeux Tapestry exhibition opens to the public on 10 September. The first tranche of tickets sold out within nine hours when they were released last week, generating more than £2.4 million in sales. The museum's website also received almost five times its average daily traffic as hundreds of thousands of people attempted to secure tickets.

Cullinan said: “This has been a monumental effort from colleagues at the British Museum and our partners in the UK and France. Watching the tapestry arrive at the museum is a moment I will never forget and I look forward to seeing the exhibition take shape over the coming weeks and welcoming the first visitors through our doors this September."

UK culture secretary Lisa Nandy said: "Make no mistake - this is an historic moment and a significant act of friendship as we welcome this iconic historical tapestry back to Britain for the first time in almost 1,000 years. 

"This exhibition is a once in a life time opportunity to learn about this pivotal period in our national story and our shared heritage and friendship with France, which endures to the present day. I'm delighted to welcome this tapestry back onto British shores."