Museum visitor numbers surge

The introduction of free admission to some of London's greatest museums and galleries has spurred a huge increase in visitors, according to figures released today.

The Imperial War Museum, the Natural History Museum, The Science Museum, The National Maritime Museum and The Museum of London all went free on 1 December - and all have since enjoyed dramatic increases in visitor.

In December 2000, the Natural History Museum had 89,650 visitors, compared to last month's 163,487. The Museum of London's December 2000 figure of 12,965 almost doubled to 24,408 last month. All the other London collections to have gone free have had similar rises. The most dramatic has been at the Victoria & Albert Museum, which went free on 22 November to coincide with the opening of its £32 million British Galleries, with 174,249 visiting in December - compared to 42,623 during the previous December.

Free admission to the charging national collections was a Labour Manifesto commitment, and a personal project of former culture secretary Chris Smith. His successor, Tessa Jowell, said today: "Clearly, charges were acting as a restraint to many people particularly families. Visiting a national museum, like going to a park or taking a stroll, can once again be one of life's free pleasures."

The Department of Culture Media and Sport has provided funds for the newly free museums to compensate for the loss of admissions revenue. However, there have been warnings from senior arts administrators - and even from the National Art Collection Fund, which was one of the major supporters of the campaign to introduce free admissions - that should funding levels prove insufficient after the results of this year's comprehensive spending rev i ew are announced the museums sector will be unable to maintain standards.

Despite this, the on average doubling of visitors to the newly free museums will provide the collections with more customers for their restaurants and gift shops and generate welcome new income.

The figures for other museums to go free include: Imperial War Museum 44,046 (Dec 2001) 31,145 (Dec 2000); National Museum of Science and Industry (incorporating the Science Museum in London and the National Railway Museum in York) 146,856 (Dec 2001) 88,603 (Dec 2000); National Maritime Museum in Greenwich 52,714 (Dec 2001) 33,446 (Dec 2000); National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside 36,214 (Dec 2001) 23,214 (Dec 2000).