More children are visiting England's museums according to the latest government figures.

The figures show that child admissions to national museums and galleries have risen by more than twenty per cent since the abolishment of admission charges in April 1999.

The Predators exhibition at the Natural History Museum is an example of the trend recording nearly double the number of visitors on opening day, an eight per cent increase in July and a 28 per cent increase in August.

Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, hailed the decision to scrap admission charges as a great success and said there was more to come: I am delighted that since April 1999, more than 1 million additional youngsters have visited flagship institutions. With the steps we are taking, removing charges for children and the over 60s and the budget measures to make our national museums and galleries free for all adults from December this year, I expect visitor numbers to keep on growing.