Museums in three northern cities that faced the threat of closure are safe despite recent cuts, according to the culture minister.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Treasury had agreed the department's spending would be cut by eight per cent for 2015-16, although Arts and museums would have a slightly smaller cut at five per cent.

The Science Museum Group (SMG) had said that it could have been forced to close one of its three museums due to budget cuts, which culture minister Ed Vaizey vehemently denied, stating that there was "no question" of them closing.

The three museums in question were the National Railway Museum in York, the National Media Museum in Bradford and Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry.

The treasury had written to government departments earlier this year, warning most ministers that they would have to cut up to 10 per cent of their budgets for the year 2015-16, which would have forced Arts Council England to remove regular funding from hundreds of organisations across the UK.