LYME Regis Museum saw a massive increase in profits last year with visitor numbers also soaring.

The 2008 income showed an increase of around a third on 2007, with almost 2,000 more people passing through the doors.

Much of the success at the Philpot building is down to increased trade in the museum shop, according to manager Carole Halden.

Shops sales generated £33,784 last year, compared with £25,563 in 2007.

Mrs Halden said: “It has been a very good year. It is really the shop business that has increased but admissions to the museum have gone up slightly too. We have increased the shop area so that has helped.

“We have lots more merchandise, lots more for children and a wider range of books. Lots of people will just come in to shop. We have also got around 50 volunteers who all take pride in knowing about their stock in the shop and two volunteer buyers who buy the merchandise and books.”

If visitors then decide to pay to enter the museum, children go free and adults pay £3.

Mrs Halden says the increased admission price will have helped boost the venue’s income but said exhibitions, family fun days and the introduction of full time curator Mary Godwin in September had all played their part.

“The winter exhibition Dusto has helped bring more people in and the family fun days have brought a lot more children in and adults with them,” said Mrs Halden. “There are certainly benefits too of having an on-the-spot full time curator.”

Bad weather in the summer has also added to the museum’s success – by the end of September 12,417 visitors had passed through the doors and the income had already exceeded the previous year. By the end of 2008, 14,982 people had visited the museum – 8.6 per cent up on 2007.

This success does not even take into account the number of visitors to the touring exhibition Farming in the Lim Valley and the increased hits on the website.

“They all count from the point of view of the museum making contact with local people,” said Mrs Halden.

Broadening appeal to locals is one of the priorities for 2009. Mrs Halden said: “That is what we are for – to be a museum for the locality. It is not just tourists we want to please. The winter exhibitions for example, are always aimed at local people.”

Always running in the background is work to deliver a £3 million extension to provide exhibition space, a study centre and education room.

Curator Mary Godwin said: “We are still committed to developing the museum. We are currently investigating strategies for raising the money we need. It is going to have to come from a wide variety of sources rather than just the heritage lottery fund.

“The next step is to set up a development office with a person or people, whether paid or voluntarily, to take that forward for us. It is not an easy time to fundraise but we believe we have something really special. As far as we are concerned, it is going to happen.”