Manchester’s most popular visitor attraction could close in order to keep the London Science Museum open.

The Museum of Science and Industry (Mosi) – which welcomes thousands of families each year – could be shut down under plans being considered by the national Science Museum Group.

The shocking announcement also puts in jeopardy the National Media Museum in Bradford and the National Rail Museum in York.

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The three northern visitor attractions, which are all part of the London-based museum group, have been put on the chopping block because of funding cuts.

Town hall bosses in Manchester and the other northern cities have been engaged in emergency talks today in a bid to resolve the crisis.

The Liverpool Road museum, which is built on the site of the world’s first intercity railway, was forced to go into partnership with the London Science Museum after the government cut funding to ‘non-core museums’.

But the Science Museum Group now says that the only way it can overcome a huge operating debt is to jettison the three museums.

The plans will be put forward to the museum groups’s trustees in the autumn.

In a statement, the group said: “The Science Museum Group has to address a large projected operating deficit from 2014 onwards and is assessing a range of options to address this situation.

"Despite making significant cost reductions we are still faced with a significant annual deficit next year and beyond because of cuts in Grant in Aid. The Group’s finances are expected to come under even greater pressure following the Spending Review on 26 June 2013.

“We have already undertaken a range of cost saving initiatives since the government cuts announced in October 2010, and we will look at further efficiencies to ensure that we continue to care for our collections and maintain our role in inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers. Our recommendations will go to the Board of Trustees in the Autumn.”

A spokeswoman for the museum group said she could not comment on whether the museums would be viable or whether the group would be prepared to sell or give them to another operator.

Mosi received 830,000 visitors in 2011/12.



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