A beloved museum in Fareham is set to close after funding has been pulled by Hampshire County Council.

Westbury Manor Museum is set to be closed in November after a strategic review by Hampshire Cultural Trust as part of its current major budget review.

Hampshire Cultural Trust, who manage Westbury Manor Museum, announced that five of the venues it operates in the county were at risk of closure as a result of funding challenges.

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Reduction to its funding by Hampshire County Council as part of its current major budget review, mean that Hampshire Cultural Trust will no longer have the funds to operate the museum.

Before the planned museum closure on November 4, the opening hours for Westbury Manor Museum will go from four to three days per week.

From September 2, the ground floor only, including the café, will open from 10am to 2pm, on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Fareham Borough Councillor Connie Hockley, executive member for leisure and community, said: “It was not Fareham Borough Council’s decision to close Westbury Manor Museum and I for one am very sad to see it go, particularly after having invested £448,000 to support Hampshire Cultural Trust in 2016.

“I would urge anyone that wants to see the museum before it closes to take note of the new opening hours."

Katerina Kremmida, chief operating officer at Hampshire Cultural Trust, commented: “The ground floor of Westbury Manor Museum, including its café, will remain open on its most popular days, Monday, Thursday and Friday.

“We have had to make the decision to close the first floor of the museum at the same time, as we will be starting to document, clean and remove objects from the museum prior to its closure later in the year, and for the safety of our visitors, staff and volunteers, we need to do this while the first floor is empty.”

The council said that the artefacts will be returned to storage after being cleaned and documented on site.