D-Day looms for Museums.

A petition containing over 18,000 signatures has been handed to the culture minister Ed Vaizey in a bid to save some of Liverpool’s museums.

Cuts in public spending will leave institutions like Sudley House and the National Conservation Centre on the chopping block.

The government will announce its decision on Liverpool’s fate on the 20^th October.

The petition, which had 18,250 names on it including Brookside creator Phil Redmond, was supported by people not only from the North West, but as far a field as Australia, Canada and the USA.

National Museums Director Dr David Fleming thanked those who supported the cause and said it sends a clear message to the government on the value of the museums to people.

He said: “The government said it was happy to see public consultation on cuts and we feel our petition indicated the strong feelings of the public”.

Dickie Felton, communications manager and instigator of the petition said in terms of raising awareness, the petition went well.

He said: “We got lots of media coverage for our campaign plus Radio Merseyside broadcast a debate with Ed Vaizey culture secretary”.

The government could hit the city with cuts as much as 40% and National Museums Liverpool receives 95% of it’s funding from the government.

The cuts mean new schemes like a Titanic gallery at Merseyside Maritime Museum and the Find Your Talent programme, which involved thousands of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds have been axed.

Dr Fleming said: “Major budget cuts will impact on our world class museums and on our ability to show off wonderful objects.”