HAIG Mining Museum has gone into liquidation. 

Following a meeting of the Board of Trustees on Friday, North East accountancy firm Rowlands has been asked to wind up the company and place the organisation into 'creditors voluntary liquidation'. 

The museum closed unexpectedly earlier this month and meetings will now be held on the advice of Rowlands, who deal with restructuring and insolvency, towards voluntarily winding up the company due to its insolvency. Haig trustee Kay Dempsey said it was "a very sad day".

Meanwhile, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and Copeland Community Fund (CCF) have confirmed that they will not make any further financial contributions to Haig.

In a joint statement, the HLF and CCF said: "The closure of the Haig is very sad news that puts at risk the ability to tell the story of Whitehaven’s proud industrial past. 

"First and foremost, our thoughts are with the members of staff who have lost their jobs and everyone who has worked so hard on the site’s redevelopment. 

"These are challenging and uncertain times for the museum which has experienced significant funding problems. 

"CCF and HLF have been working diligently to resolve the situation to try and find a way forward, and will continue to do what we can to help find a sustainable future for this important site. However we are unable to make any further funding contribution available given Haig’s current financial position. 

"Our funding has achieved much already including securing the condition of a scheduled ancient monument and bringing many more visitors to Haig since it reopened last year. We hope that the Haig is able to reopen at some point in the future."