National Museum of the Royal Navy 'saved from insolvency'

The museum's collection includes Lord Nelson's flagship HMS Victory in Portsmouth

The National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) has been saved from imminent insolvency by a promise of emergency government funding, its director has said.

The museum said the closure of its sites due to the coronavirus lockdown had caused a £6.35m shortfall.

It said it would have filed for insolvency within the next month.

NMRN said the money would enable it to reopen its venues in Portsmouth, Gosport, Hartlepool and Yeovilton.

NMRM said it planned to reopen sites including the Fleet Air Museum shortly

Its director general, Professor Dominic Tweddle, said the loss of visitor income had put the museum at "unprecedented risk".

He said: "I cannot express the relief we all felt when were told that additional funding would be made available to us."

NMRN said the government had indicated it would give £5.4m to cover losses this financial year.

It said it was "disproportionately dependent" on donors and visitors, from whom it receives 81% of its income.

NMRN said other UK national museums, such as those for the army and RAF, received the majority of their funding from the government, enabling them to reopen in early July.

HMS Trincomalee in Hartlepool is one of NMRN's seven UK sites

Mr Tweddle said: "I simply cannot see why the historic ships and collections we care for are not treated with the same significance as those in the care of our National Museum peers. Is our naval history not of equal value?

"The only real solution is a fundamental overhaul of our funding model, something I intend to pursue in the coming months."

NMRN it was "vigorously campaigning" to reopen HMS Caroline in Belfast, which it said was governed by a different funding model in Northern Ireland.

The museum group includes Lord Nelson's flagship HMS Victory at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and the frigate HMS Trincomalee in Hartlepool, among vessels and exhibitions at seven UK sites.