Whitehaven's Beacon Museum saved by partnership

The Beacon Museum was opened in 1996

A Cumbrian museum under threat from council cuts has been saved thanks to a new partnership.

Copeland Council proposed shutting the Beacon Museum in Whitehaven in a bid to save £2.6m from its budget.

However, after Sellafield Ltd expressed interest in the site in December, a new partnership is being planned between the company and the council.

The Beacon Partnership will take over the running of the museum from April 2014.

The museum and the Beacon Partnership will work together over the next year to plan upcoming exhibits and activities.

Sellafield, who will rent space in the museum, said it hoped to update the nuclear sector exhibit area on the second floor of the museum.

The purpose-built Beacon Museum was opened in 1996 and houses a gallery as well as a range of photographs, textiles and archaeological finds.