Botanic garden workers' last day

End of the road: Most of Middleton's workers will be redundant by Wednesday

Staff at crisis-hit Middleton, the National Botanic Garden of Wales, have completed their last full working day at the site.

By lunchtime on Wednesday around 60 workers at the £43m project at Llanarthne in Carmarthenshire, had been made redundant as the venue struggles with its £2m debts.

A skeleton crew of around 15 people will be kept on for essential maintenance at the 10-acre attraction which is facing closure despite its trustees accepting a £150,000 grant from the county council, which will keep the doors open for the next six weeks.

Carmarthenshire County Council says it is in talks with the private sector and one party in particular is keen on possibly becoming a life-saving partner for the garden.

We believe that the gardens have huge potential as a key visitor destination in Carmarthenshire Meryl Gravell, Leader, Carmarthenshire Council

It was ironic that the trustees' 11th-hour efforts to boost the site's flagging appeal saw Middleton record its highest number of visitors yet.

Figures for October showed more than 15,500 visitors toured the garden last month, the most since it opened three years ago.

A record 7,000 attended over one weekend at the beginning of the month when the management offered free admission as a thank-you gesture for the messages of support the garden had received after news of its cash crisis and threatened future emerged.

An exit survey of visitors recorded that 97% would recommend having a day out at the attraction.

But the boost has not been enough to prevent the expected lay-offs this week.

Exit survey: Most visitors said they would recommend the garden for a day out

However, a team of about 40 volunteers has started work to try to maintain the Middleton's stock of 100,000 rare plants.

A spokeswoman for Carmarthenshire Council said the authority was not prepared to name the private sector company with whom it is in discussions over Middleton.

Council Leader Meryl Gravell said: "The county council remains very supportive of the National Botanic Garden and wishes to do everything possible within reason to support the effort to secure a long-term viable future for the garden.

"We believe that the gardens have huge potential as a key visitor destination in Carmarthenshire and we will continue to work with other stakeholders to secure their future."

Over the weekend, the founder of the Eden Project in Cornwall, Tim Smit, visited the garden and described it as a "national treasure" which should be championed.