BANBURY Museum will face more cuts, as it was revealed council chiefs looked at closing the £5m attraction.

Cherwell District Council is looking to slash £28,861 from the budget for 2011-12, including a 58 per cent cut in the exhibition budget.

Total museum spending fell from £640,305 in 2008 to £506,437 in 2010, a move that saw staff axed, closure on Sundays and single staffing on weekday afternoons.

The attraction, which opened in 2002 at the Castle Quay Shopping Centre, now opens at 10am instead of 9.30am.

Now the council wants to slash the exhibition budget from £9,476 to £4,100 and have only one member of staff available at any one time, saving £13,385. A further £10,100 will be saved through fewer exhibitions and use of in-house staff for education programmes.

The council also revealed it considered but rejected total closure as it would have to pay back a £2.2m Lottery grant, given on the condition that the museum is open for at least 25 years.

The council’s executive will be asked to back the cuts on Monday.