Visitors to the Silk Museum may soon be seeing its famous textiles in a whole new light — quite literally.

In a world-first, researchers and volunteers at the Macclesfield museum have reportedly invented glow-in-the-dark silk.

A small team, spearheaded by senior curator Bryony Renshaw, have spent several months attempting to crossbreed traditional silkworms with bioluminescent glowworms, with surprising results.

Bryony said: "We were working late one evening when we first noticed a soft yellow-green shimmer coming from the test cocoons.

"We knew straight away that we had achieved something incredible!"

Potential uses for the unique luminous thread range from PPE such as nighttime safety clothing to high-end decorative fabrics and costumes.

Early samples have already been woven into a prototype scarf that emits a gentle glow after dusk.

The Silk Museum's retail manager Tracy Lashford-Jones said: "This discovery has completely changed the game.

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"I've already had calls from big brands and luxury fashion houses who all want to get their hands on our glow-in-the-dark silk!"

If you've read this far then you've probably worked out that this is an April Fools' Day joke - sorry!

While you might not be able to buy a glow-in-the-dark scarf at the Silk Museum, their gift shop does have a beautiful range of real silk products!

While you might not be able to buy a glow-in-the-dark scarf at the Silk Museum, their gift shop does have a beautiful ranges of real silk product (Credit: Silk Museum)