The British Museum (BM) will open late only on Fridays from January. The museum is currently open to the public until 8.30pm on Thursdays and Fridays.
As a result of government budget cuts imposed at the end of May, funding for the museum was reduced by £1.8m (3%) this year. “At that stage of the financial year, our ability to cancel programmes or exhibitions was limited,” said a museum spokeswoman.
“The planned response to the budget cut will inevitably have an impact on visitors, which includes this change to museum opening hours.”
But she denied a story in the London Evening Standard that said free admission was under review. “The trustees are committed to maintaining free admission to the museum,” she stressed.
Pre-arranged visits for Thursday evenings will be honoured throughout the next exhibition, Journey Through the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead (until 6 March 2011), but no new events will be scheduled.
In September, the BM received £25m from two charitable trusts established by the Sainsbury family (the Linbury Trust and the Monument Trust) for its £135m World Conservation and Exhibition Centre, which is scheduled to open in 2013.
Independent museum consultant Julian Vayne said: “I’d rather see a reduction in hours at the BM than the abandonment of capital projects or, worse, keeping existing hours but introducing admission charges.”