Free admission to parts of new Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery

The ground floor and Roman and pre-history gallery will be free to visitors when the site finally opens its doors in spring.

Shropshire Council is looking at introducing charges for general admission to the main displays, in which adults would pay £4, senior citizens £3.50 and children aged between five and 17 years old £2.

Hundreds of people have signed a petition calling for plans for general admission charges to be dropped.

The museum and art gallery is expected to bring 25,000 extra visitors to the town each year after it opens in spring, the council said.

According to its estimates the attraction will see about 50,000 paying visitors a year – double the number that visited the free-to-enter museum at Rowley's House.

Shropshire Council believes the extra visitors will generate about £825,000 extra for the Shrewsbury economy each year.

The projections come as protest grows against plans to introduce general admission charges at the new museum.

Hundreds of people have signed a petition calling for free entry.

Details of the potential tourism boost have been revealed ahead of a full council meeting on Thursday in response to a question by Liberal Democrat Councillor Andrew Bannerman. Councillor Bannerman said it had been assumed the museum would be free to enter given the amount of public money spent on the attraction.

He said: "Shropshire Council was given a large amount of public and charitable money to convert the Music Hall complex of buildings into a new, state-of-the-art museum and visitor centre.

"The aim was to make this the focal point of the visitor economy strategy for Shrewsbury and the county.

"It was always assumed this would be free to all, unlike the temporary exhibitions, where an admission charge is expected."

He asked who was consulted about the charging plans and what the estimated contribution to the local economy will be.

In a written response, Councillor Steve Charmley, portfolio holder for business growth, said the authority's "only option" to make the museum sustainable is to charge. He said: "Rowley's House has an average visitor footfall of 25,000. We anticipate 50,000 paying visitors to the new museum." The estimated contribution of 25,000 extra visitors each year would be £825,000 to the Shrewsbury Economy per annum, he said.