Cuts blamed as fewer people visit Shugborough

Budget cuts at Staffordshire's Shugborough estate are to blame for plunging visitor numbers at the attraction, it was claimed today.

Cannock Chase Council leader George Adamson said the county council "knew the price of everything but the value of nothing" after it emerged visitor numbers were down 14 per cent year on year.

He was speaking as a member of the Cannock Ex-Servicemen's Club Male Voice Choir, which has appeared at Shugborough's candlelit Christmas evenings in previous years.

The events will not run this Christmas and will be replaced with a winter fair. Choir chairman David Rimmer said members had been left "very disappointed".

It was also revealed this week that four people at Shugborough had taken voluntary redundancy, two others were made redundant and one was redeployed as part of a restructure.

Staffordshire County Council says it needs to claw back cash from Shugborough as it is operating at a deficit. In a further, unrelated blow, two showpiece concerts at the venue have been cancelled at short notice because organisers EMS Promotions have gone into liquidation.

Jools Holland and the National Symphony Orchestra were due to appear on August 18 and 19 respectively.

Councillor Adamson said: "It is a self-fulfilling prophecy – if you make cuts, you make it less appealing to go there and the visitor numbers drop. The people at the county council know the price of everything but the value of nothing and what they are doing is discouraging people from going.

"The worry is that they will end up closing Shugborough. It is a part of our heritage and it needs to be kept available for the people of Staffordshire to enjoy."

County council chiefs deny there are any plans to shut Shugborough but say the site cannot continue to make a loss. The fall in visitors comes despite the attraction enjoying a strong season last year.