Attractions boosted by 63pc surge in visitors

During the month over 70,000 people visited attractions run by Kirklees Council, including nearly 13,000 at Bagshaw and Dewsbury Museums, both of which were closed for refurbishment in August 2009.

However, even excluding the figures for the two museums, it still means an overall increase of 35 per cent on last August's visitor figures.

Coun Mary Harkin, a member of the council's cabinet, said: "Many improvements and developments have been and are continuing to be made in order to make our sites relevant and appealing to local communities and such a big increase in visitors proves that we are giving the public what they want.

"We have an excellent team of people working and delivering family events and activities in our museums, galleries and historic sites and these figures show that visitors appreciate their efforts."

More than 6,500 people took the opportunity to see the improvements at Dewsbury Museum in the month following its reopening while Bagshaw Museum in Batley, which was closed the two previous Augusts, welcomed nearly 6,200 visitors.

The biggest increase was at Oakwell Hall and Country Park which attracted a total of nearly 40,000 visitors during the month, a jump of nearly 11,000 on August 2009.

This August's figures include an increase of more than 8,000 visitors to the site's visitor centre. Oakwell kicked off the month with a Yorkshire Day event, which attracted up to 10,000 visitors, and also staged three days of family activities, which were attended by over 3,000 people.

Castle Hill, in Almondbury, was visited by over 5,000 people, more than double its previous best figure for August. Council chiefs say numbers were boosted by the daily opening of Victoria Tower for the first time during August.