Drunken and clumsy visitors destroy art in galleries

New documents show how visitors have chipped, scratched and even vomited on valuable works on display across the capital. A curator at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge whose priceless 17th century Chinese vases were smashed when a visitor fell repeated warnings that displays must not be touched.

Nick Flynn, 42, slipped on his shoelace, fell down a staircase and brought three vases crashing down. Margaret Greeves of the Fitzwilliam said: "People don't mean to be clumsy, but they do like to touch things. In general I would say, please don't touch."

The Tate, which has seven million visitors to its galleries each year, said accidents were rare but it was constantly working on ways to keep works safe.

Details released under the Freedom of Information Act show how dozens of pieces at the National Gallery, Tate and the V&A have been damaged in the past five years.

Removal men, drunken visitors and clumsy staff shoulder the blame for many of the accidents. In July, at the Royal Academy's summer exhibition a 9ft ceramic totem by Costa Rican artist Tatiana Echeverri Fernandez was smashed, causing thousands of pounds of damage. It is impossible to put a price tag on the damage because many galleries refused to disclose the cost of repair.