TORFAEN council has agreed to cut a museum trust's funding by £26,700 over the next four years as part of local authority savings.

Leader of the council, Cllr Anthony Hunt, said it was an example of "one of the unfortunate realities of funding in the year 2018" that Torfaen Museum Trust will have grant funding reduced from £76,700 to £50,000 over the next four years, with a reduction of £6,675 each year.

The council will continue to work with the trust to find new sources of funding.

Torfaen council's cabinet voted to approve the proposed reduction in funding at a meeting on Tuesday.

Rachel Jowitt, chief officer of neighbourhoods, planning and public protection, said the council had worked closely with the trust to agree the gradual reduction.

"While it is a reduction we are hopeful that the historical legacy can be maintained and promoted," she added.

The trust, which manages Pontypool Museum, put forward the proposal for a gradual reduction to allow it time to "adapt and make any of the necessary changes needed to acclimatise to the reduction," the meeting heard.

The reduction in funding will start in the financial year 2019/20.

A report prepared ahead of the meeting shows that the council is faced with a funding gap of £25million over the next four years.

Cllr Hunt, member for resources and strategic leadership, thanked staff at the museum trust for their understanding of the situation and said the council had "very little choice" if it is to fund core areas such as schools, social care and housing.

"It is one of the unfortunate realities of funding in the year 2018 and I think it's good we have been able to work with the museum trust," he added.

Cllr David Yeowell, member for education and life long learning, asked whether the trust could find new sources of funding to make up the cut.

In response, Ms Jowitt said the council will continue to work with the trust to find funding.

The Trust was created in 1979 to look after and make accessible the county borough’s heritage object collection.

Its mission is to "preserve, interpret, disseminate and celebrate local culture and bring the culture of other communities to the communities of Torfaen and beyond."