CHEPSTOW town councillors gambled that dire warnings about possible cuts to the budget of the local museum have been exaggerated.

The town council has refused an appeal from Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) to contribute a total of £75,000 over the next three years towards the running of the popular Chepstow Museum.

The county council was hoping for ?10,000 in the next financial year (2014-15), £25.000 the year after and £45,000 in 2016-17.

On top of that the county council was also looking for a £47,000 contribution in the financial year beginning in April to help the tourist information centre (TIC) opposite the museum in Bridge Street.

The county council is looking to make savings of £780,000 over the next three years in the department that includes museums and tourism.

A town council working party had recommended giving £10,000 for the museum and £25,000 for the TIC next year but an extraordinary meeting of the council rejected the proposal which would have increased the council's £325,000 budget for next year by more than 10 per cent.

Councillors made it clear they felt the county council shouldn't be using them as an emergency piggy bank.

Councillor Yvonne Havard (Independent, St Kingsmark) said: "It is not our problem, it is MCC's. They have said they would not let the service go down.

"This is a bit of a frightener to encourage us to be generous.

"We have been in this position before where we have done this when we should not have."

Councillor Gerry Rowe (Labour, St Christopher's) said: "If you (the county council) are going to make cuts, do not try to co-opt others to mask that."

There was also concern that Chepstow taxpayers would be paying twice for the same service.

Councillor Hilary Beach (Labour, St Christopher's) said: "We are being asked to tax people twice in Chepstow for the same service. The museum is part of a county-wide service and we should not be asking people to pay twice."

But Councillor David Dovey (Conservative, St Kingsmark) said the ?10,000 would secure the museum's future for the next year allowing time to put longer-term measures in place.

He said: "The figures will get us over the line for this year and give us 12 months."