Last-ditch bid to save lock museum

Campaigners hoping to save Willenhall's historic Lock Museum from closing are to hold last-ditch talks to formulate a final battle plan.

Friends of the Lock Museum are to hold the meeting tomorrow night where they will discuss ways of securing its future. Members of the public are urged to attend to show the strength of opposition against the proposals to shut the building in New Road in just over a month. The museum's fortunes have taken a drastic downturn over the last year.

It lost its annual funding from Walsall Council, which said visitor numbers had plunged.

Then its owners the Black Country Living Museum (BCLM) said they wanted to move it brick-by-brick to the museum site in Dudley, a move council chiefs opposed.

Now the museum, also called the Locksmith's House, looks set to close on December 17 after the BCLM decided it was no longer financially viable.

Upkeep of the building has been costing BCLM around £10 for each of the fewer than 3,000 visitors annually.

Bosses said the relocation would ensure it would be seen by around 300,000 visitors at the Dudley site each year.

Willenhall Councillor Sean Coughlan urged people to go along to the meeting to support campaigners.

The meeting is at the School of Hope in Stafford Street, Willenhall, at 6pm tomorrow.

Councillor Coughlan said: "We have spent two sessions in the town asking for people to sign a petition and we have got 290 signatures.

"From what people were telling me they were very passionate about keeping this facility open.

"I handed the petition into Walsall Council this week. The decision to stop funding the Lock Museum was a massive blow to the people of Willenhall. This is a last ditch attempt for the decision to be overthrown and the funding put back in place. Time is running out."

Walsall Council stopped its £12,000 grant earlier this year. The site now opens only on Wednesdays after opening hours were slashed due to dwindling numbers.