OPPOSITION members have raised concerns about plans to move museum treasures out of Dudley town centre to the borough's archives building in Tipton Road.

Cost-cutting plans to close Dudley Museum and Art Gallery in St James’s Road were announced by Labour-run Dudley Council last October - and now council chiefs want to relocate the museum’s exhibits to the borough’s archives building next to the Black Country Living Museum and Dudley Zoological Gardens.

UKIP and Conservative councillors, however, fear the move will take footfall away from the town centre.

Councillor Paul Brothwood, UKIP leader on Dudley Council, said: "They want to tell an educational story from the fossils through to medieval history right up to the modern day. It looks amazing but we still have massive reservations about taking it out of the town centre.

"We’re concerned about taking footfall from the town to the archives."

UKIP are now proposing the council's overview and scrutiny committee looks into the matter.

Councillor Dean Perks (UKIP), chairman of the scrutiny committee, said Labour chiefs indicated during post-election talks that they would look again at whether the museum could be saved and he said: "I don't think this closing everything down culture is great. I thought it was going to be discussed with elected members and members of the public to see whether we're making the right decision."

He too spoke positively about the vision put forward by Councillor Khurshid Ahmed, Dudley's cabinet member for tourism, to showcase the museum's treasures into the future but he stressed: "We need to explore every option. It needs to feel like a museum, Dudley Museum feels like one, it smells like one, it looks like one - that's very important."

Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of Dudley Conservatives, echoed the same worries about moving the museum out of Dudley town centre, saying: "The majority of people who go there will not take an extra taxi or car trip down to the Black Country Living Museum.

"It's crazy to move a town centre attraction to the border of Tipton."

He said Dudley Conservatives "would have saved the museum" had UKIP joined forces with them after the election. He told the News: "It's such a small saving and enough of our members felt strongly enough to keep it open."

UKIP's Cllr Brothwood, however, said the Tories had "not put forward any proposals on how to save the museum".

Dudley Council says the plan to relocate the museum to the archives will put the museum in the heart of Dudley’s tourism complex and offer visitors better parking, access for people with disabilities and transport links.

Tourism chief cllr Ahmed said "exciting proposals" were already being drawn up and he stressed the authority was "committed to making sure people have access to all the very best displays which tell the story of Dudley".

Meanwhile - Dudley student Ross Crompton, whose online petition calling for Dudley Museum to be saved was signed by thousands, has also expressed disappointment at the council's compromise plan and he said: "I feel it is the loss of yet another attraction within the core of the town, which has seen its offer to visitors dwindle enough over the years as it is.

"Although councillors argue the museum could attract more visitors at Tipton Road there wouldn't be the potential for movement between the museum and other businesses as there presently is, and I feel it would be more awkward for the casual visitor to get to if it is no longer within easy walking distance of the central hub of the town.

"Also, the current museum site is a purpose-built gallery, and I don't feel it could easily be converted for alternative purposes."

He said he fears the old red-brick museum building would "just become yet another vacant building in Dudley town centre."