TRUSTEES are desperately trying to raise £200,000 in three months to help finish a building project that will keep Wantage’s museum open.

Work on the two-storey extension at Vale and Downland Museum will finish in April but due to unexpected construction and legal fees the cost of the £350,000 scheme has soared to more than £500,000.

Chairman of the trustees Terry Fraser said grants had become harder to win in the current economic climate and unless the money was found, the trustees would be forced to take out a high interest loan to finish the work and keep the building open.

He said: “We are close to finishing this, and we are so far ahead it mustn’t stop as to restart would cost a lot more money.

“We have had lots of kind donations so far and we are hoping that a few more people are just as generous and we will have a excellent building that will last for many more years.”

He added: “The new revamped museum will be a great advantage for the local schools and various other groups across the Vale.”

So far about £320,000 has been raised through legacies, donations and council grants.

But the cost of the work has risen due to the need for unexpected works such as the restoration of an adjoining wall and the need to replace the floor in the museum.

It has also had a number of legal bills and had to install an £18,000 boiler system.

Jenny Hannaby, an Oxfordshire County Council member for Wantage and Grove, said she hoped councils would come forward with the money.

She said: “The money must be found. The museum is at the heart of the community.”

The Church Street museum is to close on Saturday at 2pm for a month while work is done to link the buildings and install new doors to the patio.

To donate call the museum on 01235 771447 or Mr Fraser on 01235 766003.