MONMOUTH'S uni-que collection of Nelson memorabilia will be denied to Sunday tourists from the end of this month - unless a last ditch campaign receives councillors' support.

At present the museum is open seven days a week, including all day Saturday and from 2pm on Sundays.

But as part of Monmouthshire County Council's drastic cost cutting proposals, the hours that the museum's front line staff will work will be reduced, with the knock on effect of closing museums countywide on Sundays.

Campaigning County Councillor Liz Hackett Pain, of the Wyesham ward, said: "I'm keen to keep all the museums open on a Sunday afternoon.

"The suggestion to close them is just a proposal at the moment, but since the idea first emerged last month there has, quite rightly, been a large uproar about the idea.

"What we as councillors have to do is see if we can do anything different to prevent these buildings, containing our local heritage, closing when people want to visit them at the weekend."

Councillors are due to discuss and vote on the 2006/7 budget, including its cost cutting measures, at a full council meeting on Thursday, March 9. As such Cllr Hackett Pain has barely a week to convince her fellow members to rethink the draft proposals.

She added: "We should be a listening local authority and we've just eight days to go before the council sets its budget in stone and the decision will be irreversible.

"I've spoken with everybody who has made contact with me to voice their opinions over this emotive issue."

Tourism is estimated to generate around £100 million a year, representing a large part of Monmouthshire's income. People travel a long way to visit Monmouth and the Nelson memorabilia contained in Monmouth's museum.

"I think most councillors agree with my views," added Cllr Hacket Pain, "that closing museums on Sundays is a retrograde step and I am sure we can do things differently to meet the budget requirements.

"Closing our museums is a short-sighted approach especially as I've listened to a deputation from the Shire Hall stewards who've informed me that the heritage lottery bid to renovate the building is based on the proviso that the Monmouth Museum is open at the weekend."

Ned Heywood, the producer of many historical spectaculars at local castles, is asking people to sign his petition over Monmouthshire County Council's proposals to cut the opening hours of the county's castles and museums by closing on Sundays.

He added that some locations received more visitors in three hours on a Sunday than in six hours on any Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.