A metal replica of a Suffragette’s badge which was seized by British customs after it arrived from Australia en route to an exhibition has finally gone on display.

The Holloway prison badge which is owned by Australian MP, Frances Bedford, was awared to Australian-born suffragette Muriel Matters by the Women's Freedom League after she was imprisoned in Holloway for chaining herself to a grille in the Ladies’ Gallery at the House of Commons in 1908 and other exploits.

The piece was sent by courier from Australia for Bourne Hall's Dying for the Vote exhibition, which opened last Tuesday at the museum in Spring Street, Ewell, to mark the centenary of the killing of suffragette Emily Davison, who ran out in front of the King's horse at the 1913 Epsom Derby.

The week before last, HM Customs and Revenue seized the badge as it entered the UK because it disputed its stated value of under £30. 

An import duty must be paid on all items entering the UK from outside the EU according to its value.

But Irene Cockroft, guest curator of the exhibition, said the badge arrived at the museum on Tuesday afternoon after Bourne Hall paid a £106 duty on the item - even though the badge is a museum piece on loan and is not an import, meaning it should not have attracted the tax at all.

She said: "I am relieved it has arrived.  It’s a very precious object and we were worried about it going astray. 

"It was held up by duty payment.  There should be no duty to pay on it as it is on loan, not an import. 

"But we decided to pay it just so we could get it here safely. 

"Frances Bedford will be coming to see the exhibition towards the end of July and she will take it back with her."

An Epsom Council spokesman said it will be able to claim back the money paid in import duty from HM Revenue and Customs when the item is returned to Australia.

Dying for the Vote runs until July 27, from 9am to 5pm, Tuesday to Saturday.  Admission is free.