ART forger turned TV star Shaun Greenhalgh has said “sorry” to Bolton Museum for his crimes.

The apology was delivered as Mr Greenhalgh visited the museum as part of a BBC TV series.

Mr Greenhalgh famously created a forgery of the Amarna Princess which was bought by Bolton Museum for £440,000 back in 2003 after the British Museum authenticated the figure as 3,300 years old. After the forgery was exposed, Mr Greenhalgh was sentenced to four and a half years in jail and Bolton Council recovered its money.

During his visit last week, Mr Greenhalgh expressed deep regret for his deception.

He said: “I felt really bad over it. I committed a crime, it just seemed to happen but I’m not making excuses, I knew what I was doing.

“This is only the second time I’ve been back to the museum. Everyone’s been very nice. I was half expecting a dagger in my back.”

It was the first time he has come face to face with council staff since he was released from prison in 2010.

He added: “I love Bolton Museum. One of my greatest memories from when I was a child is the museum. Egyptology, art, natural history — this was the place that first inspired me.”

Mr Greenhalgh created several hundred forgeries, which were sold to many museums as well as royalty and even an American president.

He visited the museum with a film crew and director Waldemar Janusczak who is also a Sunday Times art critic who was also fooled by the quality of one Shaun’s fakes.

In the documentary, ‘Handmade in Bolton’ he will be remaking four objects from the past using methods and material that are as traditional as possible.

Mr Greenhalgh will be using his skills to make a ceramic plate in the style of Renaissance artist Bernard Palissy. The crew filmed Mr Greenhalgh visiting the Aquarium and the refurbished Natural History Gallery to look at their collections for inspiration.

The museum reopened following a £3.8m refurbishment last September, and one of the centrepieces of the new Egyptology gallery is the Amarna princess.

Deputy Leader of Bolton Council, Cllr Martyn Cox, added: “The ‘Amarna Princess’ has become somewhat of a local if not national curiosity and putting it on display seems appropriate. We are glad that Mr Greenhalgh is now putting his extraordinary talents to good honest use.”

The BBC programme is expected to air later this year.