The Review has learned that council funding for the Dean Heritage Centre is expected to be reduced to zero over a four year period.

The centre in Soudley Valley, which acts as a reservoir for Forest artefacts dating back to the bronze and iron ages, as well as archive and displays on the industrial history of the Dean, currently receives £25,000 a year from the Forest of Dean District Council.

Over the years capital grants have also been given to support specific projects.

It is proposed – and this is due to be discussed at full council in early January – that cuts will be phased in, with £6,000 being cut from the revenue stream each year for the first three years, with the final £7,000 going in the last year, leaving the centre with no district authority support at all.