The French culture minister has told the BBC that the Bayeux Tapestry is in "a wonderful state".

The Bayeux Tapestry, which is now housed in the British Museum, is in a "wonderful state", the French Culture minister has told the BBC, having viewed it on site. The early medieval masterpiece, which tells the story of the events leading up to 1066 and the Norman Conquest, is being checked over by French and British conservators ahead of going on display in September. There has been alarm from some, particularly in France, that the tapestry was too precious to move from there to the UK. French culture minister Catherine Pégard said: "We can see that all the precautions have been taken… I believe that it will reassure all the sceptics". She was thronged by French and British media as she viewed the 11th Century embroidery, along with the chair of the British Museum, the former Chancellor George Osborne. British Museum chair George Osborne and French culture minister Catherine Pégard looking at a scene from the tapestry Osborne praised the "French and British experts" who transported the tapestry from Bayeux Museum in Normandy to London. "They have done an amazing job in transporting this very very delicate item across the Channel and unfurling it here for us," Osborne told the BBC.