Free admission charges have boosted museum and galleries visitor numbers by 62 per cent, the culture secretary has announced.

The first seven months of the policy to scrap entry fees has seen an extra 2.7 million go through the doors of museums all over the country.

Tessa Jowell described the free access scheme as "spectacularly successful".

In an ePolitix.com interview museums minister, Baroness Blackstone says "Active participation" as well as bigger audiences should be promoted by culture policy.