Ref. 12384/1WILTSHIRE Heritage Museum in Devizes has been set a target by Wiltshire County Council and Kennet District Council of getting a total of 20,000 visitors through its doors by March 31 or lose its annual grant.

The total of £44,000 support that it receives from the two councils is conditional on the number of visitors it attracts in a year, but, although it still might get a smaller sum, trustee Rick Rowland is taking no chances.

He said: "We have set ourselves the target of bringing 3,500 more through our doors by the end of the month.

"The loss of the grant would not be disastrous, but it would mean us having to dip into our reserves to meet the shortfall.

"We use the interest on these reserves to meet our running costs, so it would have the effect of weakening our position in the future.

"Entry is free on Sundays and Mondays but normally we charge £1 per adult the rest of the week."

But, for the rest of this month, anyone clutching a copy of the current issue of the Wiltshire Gazette and Herald will get in free on any day of the week.

Until the end of the month an exhibition of local history, entitled Bygone Devizes, is on show. Visitors can also see the amber necklace that featured in a recent Natural World episode on BBC TV. Also on show is the best collection of gold Bronze Age artefacts outside London.

Mr Rowland said: "Our gold collection is the second most important Bronze Age group in this country, if not the world."

Mike Pitts, the Avebury-based archaeologist will speak at the museum on Saturday on What Was Stonehenge For? Entry is £3.50.