SUPPORT is growing for a protest group against the expansion of the Wroughton Science Museum.

Residents in villages, including Uffcott and Broad Hinton, are concerned about the development of the museum's new Creative Planet project, which would see it turned into a national museum on the scale of the Eden Project in Cornwall.

The Ridgeway Village Preservation Co-operative says it is concerned about the traffic levels on local roads in the area once the museum opens.

Science Museum projections suggest that once opened it would get some 175,000 visitors in the first year and up to 600,000 annually after five years.

James Keith, who formed the co-operative with a group of residents in Uffcott a fortnight ago, is gaining support from other villages.

He said: "The Creative Planet scheme is laudable for its benefits to schools and business but its benefits to the local community are debatable.

"Here in Uffcott we are worried about a gate to the museum in the village that we expect the Creative Planet to possibly use as another entrance or exit once the attraction is opened. But the village is single track, and the roads are woefully inadequate to deal with the increase in the number of cars."

Mr Keith is also concerned about the viability of the museum, and how successful it will really be following the liquidation of the Earth Centre near Doncaster in March. Built on the site of a former colliery at a cost of £60 million, it aimed to show people how to live and work in a sustainable environment. But the visitors never came, and the museum called in receivers and eventually went into liquidation.

Mr Keith added: "It strikes me that the scheme promotes sustainability but it's not particularly sustainable, attracting 600,000 people from a 150 mile radius adds up to 100 million passenger miles, not particularly sustainable at all."

Last night members of the co-operative met officers from Wiltshire County Council at a meeting of Broad Hinton Parish Council to express their concerns over the traffic levels.

Tina Tidey, chairman of the Broad Hinton and Winterbourne Bassett Parish Council said: "There is great excitement for the Creative Planet, but great concern also."

At the moment the Science Museum at Wroughton acts as a storeroom for the London museum's exhibits and opens on occasional weekends.

But under the Creative Planet scheme, a centre would be established and open all the time becoming home to a nationally-important centre for sustainable development.

Anthony Osborne