THE future of Swindon's £10 million railway museum was discussed in private by members of Swindon Council.

At Wednesday night's meeting of the local authority's cabinet, councillors were debating behind closed doors how much the flagship museum should be subsidised.

As reported exclusively in This is Wiltshire this week, the museum, which officially opened on June 27, is failing to attract enough visitors.

Councillors originally agreed to hand over a subsidy of £97,000 to help the museum next year, but now an extra £376,000 is needed to keep it running.

This means a further £473,000 of public money could be spent on the attraction, which chronicles the history of the Great Western Railway.

Swindon Labour councillors blamed a drop in visitor numbers at museums across the country.

But Conservative leader Mike Bawden said: "The council must now examine its marketing strategy to see if the situation can be addressed."