Two major refurbishments of tourist destinations in York are under threat due to government spending cuts.

The Yorkshire Forward Regional Development Agency had hoped to provide £5m of funding towards the National Railway Museum's £21m revamp and £1m towards York Minster's plans to upgrade its visitor facilities, but recent government cuts have made it impossible.

Andy Tordoff, assistant director of Environment at Yorkshire Forward, said: “The restoration of York Minster's great east window and the refurbishment of the National Railway Museum's Great Hall were both projects Yorkshire Forward was looking to pursue.

"We worked with both projects to develop comprehensive business plans, but due to financial restrictions both projects were not able to progress to final sign off and approval for investment and as a result the two projects did not feature on the £40m budget cut list, as the funding had not been committed to them at that stage."

York's Labour MP Hugh Bayley was quoted by The York Press as saying: “If the government doesn’t want Yorkshire Forward to invest in projects like these, they need to set up alternative ways to support our heritage. When it opened in the 1970s, the National Railway Museum was a fantastic modern innovation but the Great Hall has remained unchanged and it now lags behind other museums.

“As the only national museum outside London, not in a regeneration area, there are very few sources of funding available and to raise a further £5 million would be a very difficult if not impossible task.”

As recently reported in Leisure Opportunities, government proposals also include a review of the role of English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the National Heritage Memorial Fund.