Search to find parts of aviator Amy Johnson's cut-up sealskin coat

Amy Johnson's mother cut her coat so friends could make collars, cuffs and other elements for their clothes

A museum is searching for the missing parts of a sealskin coat believed to have been worn by pioneering aviator Amy Johnson.

Johnson was the first woman to fly solo from the UK to Australia, in 1930.

Her mother cut the coat into pieces and gave them to friends. About half of it was given to a museum in East Yorkshire and is on display at Sewerby Hall.

The county council said it was "a very rare" item and has appealed for help in tracing the rest of the garment.

The Hull-born aviator died aged 37 during World War Two when the RAF plane she was transporting crashed in the Thames Estuary on 5 January 1941, 11 years after her record-breaking flight.

Museum officials think she may have worn the coat to court proceedings during a divorce from her husband James Mollison in August 1938.

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Johnson's mother had sliced up the brown fur garment so friends could make collars, cuffs and other elements for their clothes.

Johnson's solo flight to Australia took 19 days and she landed in front of a huge crowd in Darwin on 24 May 1930

She was killed in 1941 when the plane she was piloting crashed into the Thames Estuary

The garment on display at the museum, near Bridlington, was bestowed to the authority by an anonymous couple.

They were given the item by a woman in Hull called Mrs Linfoot for pupils to make hats or muffs at a school they taught at in Tadcaster. But instead they decided to keep it in their attic because it "was too precious" and it was left in storage for half a century, the council said.

Dr David Marchant, museums registrar at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: "We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the donors for their generous gift of this artefact to the Sewerby Hall and Gardens collection.

"The background story to it is fascinating and it adds a new element to our display about Amy Johnson - we have very little clothing related to her and this is a very rare survival from Amy's once varied and stylish wardrobe of outfits."

He urged anyone who "knows the whereabouts of the other half of this coat" to get in touch with the museum, adding it would be "great to display the full object together".