The Cromwell Museum in Huntingdon has been given a year’s respite after county councillors agreed to postpone the withdrawal of £20,000 of funding.

Councillors at Shire Hall yesterday (Tuesday) agreed to amend Cambridgeshire County Council’s business plan to defer cuts to funding to the museum for 12 months from 2015/16 to 2016/17 and for its future to be secured.

The motion was brought to the chamber after a petition calling for CCC to rethink scrapping £20,000 of funding from the 2015 budget, signed by almost 4,000 people, was handed to leader Councillor Martin Curtis and Councillor David Harty, cabinet member for education and learning.

Under council rules, a petition which passes the 3,000 signature threshold forces full council to discuss the issue at its next meeting. Brampton councillor Peter Downes proposed the motion at yesterday’s meeting, which was supported by 57 of the 61 councillors present.

Bob Pugh, spokesman for the Friends of the Cromwell Museum which led the campaign to seek assurances of the museums finances, said: “The county council’s decision to defer the planned withdrawal of funding by 12 months is very heartening news and we must thank the nearly four thousand people of Cambridgeshire who signed the petition in our support.

“We must also thank county councillors of all parties who made a bold decision in the face of financial difficulties.

“We had feared that the original proposal was the beginning of the end for this unique museum in the town of Cromwell’s birth.

“What we hope now is that this is the end of the beginning and we look forward to working with the council and others, based on the consultant’s report expected in April, to secure a long-term solution for the museum.”