ONE of the New Forest's top attractions has scrapped admission charges in a bid to make the facility more accessible to the public.

Adults previously paid £4 a head to visit the museum at the New Forest Centre in Lyndhurst – but the fee was axed on February 1.

Staff are hoping it will lead to a massive increase in visitors – and a corresponding rise in donations.

The museum is packed with objects and images illustrating the history of the Forest, including a display that highlights the importance of the pony sales yard near Beaulieu.

Visitors can listen to a tape recording of the activity that takes place during the auctions, which attract hundreds of buyers, sellers and spectators.

Owned and run by a charity called the New Forest Ninth Centenary Trust, the museum is already free to children under the age of 16.

Centre manager Hilary Marshall said: “The museum contains a wealth of knowledge about the New Forest and its heritage and we’d like as many people as possible to benefit from this information, whether they are just paying a short visit to the area or have lived here for many years.

“We want to make sure this resource is widely available to the community.

"It’s always been our ambition right from the beginning to have free entry and we feel that now is the right time to put that into action.”

Thousands of people visit the museum every year, generating income of about £25,000.

Asked how the museum could afford to offer free admission, Mrs Marshall added: “We are hoping to get a lot more donor-giving by massively increasing the number of visitors.”

Trustees said the entry charges were being scrapped in a bid to make the museum more accessible to the public.

They include Cllr Mel Kendal, a former leader of the district council, who said: “We’re hoping the advent of free admission will dramatically increase the number of visitors. If everyone donates £1 it will generate more than the current charges.”

The museum was opened by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1988 and refurbished in 2003.

Based on the first floor of the two-storey building it includes a reference library housing the biggest single collection of New Forest material that is available to the public.

Funded by the council and the National Park Authority the centre also contains a gift shop, an art gallery and a visitor information centre.