- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday August 29 2000 01.34 BST
Hundreds of museums could close without investment from the government and the local authorities that are largely responsible for regional collections. Funding from central government to the museum service has fallen by 15% in real terms since 1997, and hundreds of museums around the country are sacking staff, cutting opening hours and seeing treasures kept in inadequate storage crumble because of a lack of funding.
"It is an absolutely catastrophic situation," said David Barrie, director of Art Fund, an independent charity to which museums are increasingly turning in desperation.
While outright closures are still rare, many museums are making cutbacks that reveal an ailing service.
"It's death by a thousand cuts," Mr Barrie said. "Taken individually these cuts in museums all over the country might seem disastrous but they could add up to a national catastrophe."
Five area museum councils contacted by the Guardian - Yorkshire and Humberside, the north-west, west and east midlands, eastern region and the south-east - all reported budget cuts and falling staff numbers in their area and a slight fall in visitor numbers.
"Some museums are going to close," forecast Maurice Davies, deputy director of the museum service.
