Rain and recession spell a bumper summer for galleries and museums

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Attendance figures for August rose to 5.7million as poor weather contributed to the appeal of the capital's world-class art and science collections.

The total represents an increase of 11 per cent on August last year, with some venues, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Wallace Collection, seeing rises as high as 24 per cent. Nearly 593,000 people visited the Natural History Museum during the month, with the National Gallery not far behind on 568,375.

Museum and gallery bosses believe the figures vindicate the free admission policy of 2001 which abolished entry fees at venues that used to charge, including the Science Museum.

They also say it proves that investing in culture boosts the economy by encouraging tourism. Eight out of the top 10 tourist attractions in London are museums and galleries.

Natural History Museum director Michael Dixon, who chairs the National Museum Directors' Conference of museum and gallery heads, said: "Museums have put on incredible public programmes and that is a very strong draw." Shows this summer included Rude Britannia: British Comic Art at Tate Britain; Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera at Tate Modern, and The Ministry of Food, the Imperial War Museum's exploration of the wartime Digging for Victory campaign.

Today's figures from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport cover a time when some of the most hotly anticipated shows of the year had yet to open, including Gauguin at Tate Modern and Diaghilev at the V&A.

Since free admission was introduced by the last government, the National Maritime Museum has recorded a 197 per cent increase in attendances, the Natural History Museum 159 per cent and the V&A has seen visitors more than double.

In total, the government-funded national museums have seen a 41 per cent rise, from 28.5 million visitors in 2000-2001 to more than 41 million in the last 12 months.