VISITOR numbers to Burnley's premier tourist attraction have plummeted since entry-fees were introduced - sparking furious criticism of the policy.

Council bosses decided to introduce a £2.50 charge for entry to Towneley Hall to try and save £25,000 a year as part of budget cuts.

But since the fee was brought in in April the hall has seen a drop of more than 8,000 visitors compared to the same time last year. The fall in numbers means a likely shortfall of £10,000 against the target savings - although the council today insisted it was too soon to assess the full impact of the charges.

But top brass at the authority have admitted they will need to step up their promotion of the attraction to try to boost numbers of people visiting the hall.

Campaigners said today they had warned of the effect of introducing charges, but had been ignored by council chiefs.

Margaret Nelson, of the Fulledge Action Community Together group, said: "I am not surprised that this has happened, it was obvious that by introducing charges the numbers of people wanting to go to the hall would fall. We tried to warn the council what would happen before they decided to do this, but they did not want to know. It is no wonder it has backfired."

Figures released this week show that almost 35,000 people visited Towneley Hall in the first quarter of 2005/06, but that these numbers dropped to just 23,000 in the first four months of this year.

The fees only apply to non-Burnley residents. But those from the town only get in for free when they produce some form of proof of postcode.

Simon Goff, head of green space at Burnley council, said: "Since charges were introduced the hall has recorded 8,340 fewer visitors during the first three months than compared with the same period last year and a 30 per cent reduction compared with the average for the previous five years.

"It appears that visitor numbers have fallen as a result of the introduction of charges, but it is too early to assess how significant the reduction is.

"This reduction in visitor numbers needs to be addressed through further marketing and promotion activity."

The council is carrying out a £3.2million restoration programme of the park with the help of lottery cash, including restoring historic features such as the ornamental gardens.

Car parking is also being improved, but Burnley council is planning to charge 50p a day for parking, or £6 a year for a season ticket, to help meet the cost.

The hall was the home of the Towneley family for over 500 years and was sold to the former Burnley Corporation in 1901.

Today, the museum houses a variety of displays featuring natural history, Egyptology, local history, textiles, decorative art and regional furniture.

It has 121 engravings by Sir Edwin Landseer which were given to the museum in 1908.