MUSEUMS and art galleries funded by local authorities are considering scrapping free entry following cuts in central government funding, the Museum Association warned yesterday.

York City Council is the latest authority to consider charging for entry to the museums it funds through the York Museums Trust, after Brighton and Hove Council made a similar move earlier this year.

Museum Association policy director Alistair Brown said yesterday that austerity measures had left the York trust in a “difficult financial position” and warned that other such attractions would make similar decisions.

He said: “Museums are great civic institutions which have long prided themselves on being free and easily accessible to local people who already pay for them through their taxes.”