The project – provisionally titled Your Family, Your Home, Your Filey – would include studies of families, buildings and the general history of Filey.

Mr Pinder said: "It's intended to help people research their family history and more importantly to help them get stories about what their families were doing at the time in Filey.

"The intention is to employ a consultant to look at how the population of Filey has changed, where people came from and where they went to.

"We would also have an archaeological study to look at the origins of the buildings and someone to look at the general history of Filey.

"It's something I've been thinking about for a long time, getting all the information on a database so that everytime someone comes in with a query, it's there."

The archive could then be used by local schools, researchers and visitors with an interest in the heritage of the town.

It is hoped a funding bid will be submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Esme Fairburn Foundation with the support of Filey Town Council, whic is still discussing it.