THIS weekend will be the last chance for visitors to look round the York Story museum before it closes on Sunday afternoon.

The museum, in Castlegate, York, is to close because of council cuts and falling visitor numbers.

Council bosses have not ruled out reopening it in a different guise and staff are being moved to other museums, but today they said it would be a sad day for the city when the museum closes its doors on Sunday.

Judy Hill, visitor receptionist, said: "The public have been very disappointed at its closure - a lot have been taken by surprise. They're very concerned about what's going to happen to the building.

"We have a lot of elderly people and residents who call in quite regularly. You get to know them as friends as well as visitors. I feel quite sad about that, that they won't have this to come to any more."

Cait Clarricoates, museum guide, said many tour operators bringing groups from abroad started their tours of York with a visit to the museum and were also familiar faces.

She said: "I think people develop a fondness for the building. There's a recognition that perhaps the exhibition still has a great deal of potential, even though certain elements could do with change.

"I'm just saddened. You develop a real commitment to the place. It was a brilliant idea and a lot of other cities have picked up on the idea and have modern stories in their cities."

The museum was opened nearly 25 years ago by York Civic Trust and tells how York grew to the city it is today through a video and a series of traditional museum displays. There is also a life-size set of medieval scaffolding and cases full of some of the city's treasures.

A fabric collage tracing 1,000 years of York's history, designed by artist Sally Drew, is in the museum's reception.

John Shannon, chairman of York Civic Trust, said: "I feel it's very regrettable. I feel it played an important part in York's tourism industry, or could have done if only they'd developed it further and made it into a tourism centre.

"In its own right it was a very good exhibition and I think it is a loss to the city."

York Story will close at 4.45pm on Sunday.

A spokeswoman for City of York Council said there were no plans to dispose of the building.