LONDON.- The British Museum is facing a growing financial crisis that will see an unprecedented closing of galleries as it struggles with a £6.5m deficit in its accounts.

Staff fear that irreversible damage will be done to the scholarship and treasures of one of the greatest cultural institutions in the world. A third of the 76 rooms at the museum in London are already being closed part-time, and managers are considering the permanent closure of some galleries to all but selected scholars or escorted groups paying a fee. This would make a mockery of the museum management’s long-running support for free admission to ensure the widest public access to its collection. The museum’s purchasing budget is to be cut by 80 per cent to £100,000 a year, a sum that would buy only the tiniest items in today’s art market. Only a decade or so ago, it had £1.4m to spend on acquisitions each year. The latest estimates predict a deficit of £3.4m for this financial year, worse than the earlier estimate of £3m.