THE world-famous National Railway Museum (NRM) is losing millions of pounds of funding because of unfair treatment by the Government, according to York's MP.

Hugh Bayley told the Commons that the York museum, which attracts about 850,000 visitors a year, received £6.1 million from the Department for Culture in 2004-05.

This is less than half the total funding per visitor that is handed to prestigious London attractions, including the Victoria and Albert Museum.

But attendance at the NRM - home to historic locomotives such as the Flying Scotsman and Mallard - has doubled since admission fees were scrapped.

It attracts people from a wider range of social backgrounds - from the wealthy to the deprived - than any of Britain's other national museums, said Mr Bayley.

The MP urged Culture Minister Estelle Morris to travel to York to discuss the contentious funding issue with museum bosses after he raised the matter during Culture, Media and Sport Questions.

Museum head Andrew Scott has backed Mr Bayley's concerns, saying the museum had been hugely successful in recent years, making a huge contribution to the regional economy by attracting visitors to York, but he was increasingly concerned at the museum's ability to sustain this.

He told the Evening Press that not only was the Government grant one of the lowest relative to visitor numbers, it had not risen to reflect either inflation or the increasing number of visitors.

"Without some significant change, our ability to deliver for the region will become increasingly impaired," he claimed.

Mr Bayley said the Government was committed to broadening access to culture and heritage and the NRM, which had almost doubled attendances since the Government removed admission charges, also got more social class C2, D and E visitors than any other national museum.

"Yet it receives less funding from her department than most other national museums," he said.

"Will that be addressed in the department's forthcoming funding announcement? Will ministers find a date to come to York to discuss with the museum director what the museum is doing for the region and the nation?"

Ms Morris said the Government handed money to the National Museum of Science and Industry - the railway museum's parent organisation - which then allocated grants.

She said: "I am not sure that the museum has received a smaller grant than others. It is about 22.9 per cent. I accept, however, that includes money to enable free admissions.

"We hope to continue investing in the arts, including museums, and further announcements will made in due course when we announce the results of the spending round."

Updated: 10:04 Thursday, December 09, 2004