IT WAS meant to be the jewel in the crown of Southampton’s heritage.

But now concerns are being raised over Southampton’s £15m SeaCity Museum after figures show its visitor numbers have plummeted by 40 per cent since it opened five years ago.

A Freedom of Information request shared with the Daily Echo revealed that paying visitor numbers to the attraction have failed to meet targets every year since it opened in 2012.

More than 135,000 visitors passed through the doors in the museum’s first year.

But by 2016/17 that number had fallen to just under 83,000.

Its worst year was in 2014/15 when it attracted 63,137 visitors, which was 52,413 below its target.

However the venue has made a partial recovery in the last two years and the 2016/17 target, now lower than previous years, was only missed by about 1,000.

The city council spent £10m on the building with the rest of the cost covered by a £4.9m Heritage Lottery Fund grant to celebrate the Titanic’s 100th anniversary.

But since opening, the council has also spent a further £1.35 million on the museum.

Jeremy Moulton, pictured below, leader of the Conservative opposition on the council, said the visitor figures were disappointing and urged the council to spend its money elsewhere.

He said: “The figures show that the council cannot make a success of the museum since it opened.

“We have more than 500 cruise ships a year which is a key market that has been missed out on, the museum should show what Southampton has to offer.

“There is untapped potential in the museum which can be utilized if it is marketed correctly or given to a private company to run similar to the Harbour Lights.”

Royston Smith, Conservative MP for Southampton Itchen and council leader when SeaCity opened, said the current administration had not marketed it properly and accused it of failing to put on exhibitions which have mass appeal.

Denise Wyatt, leader of Southampton Independents, said council spending on the museum was a “waste” when it could be put towards other services or uses.

Ms Wyatt said: “At the same time, care homes like Brownhill House are shut, our roads and pavements need fixing and all our tower blocks including Redbridge and Millbrook Towers urgently need sprinklers.

“But Labour says it doesn’t have the money.”

However, the city council said the visitor numbers are misleading because they did not include school trips.

A council spokesperson said: “The opening year of the museum benefitted from a huge public profile, relating to the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic, with media coverage on a global scale.

“It was always a challenge to repeat this scale of visitor numbers.

“But we are delighted to see a steady rise in visitor numbers in recent years, reflecting the excellent customer satisfaction rates that we receive and the changing programme of events that responds to feedback.”

Councillor Satvir Kaur, city council portfolio holder for culture, added: “Southampton is a true hub for culture in the city of which the museum is part of.

“It is important for young people to learn about Southampton’s history.”

The council already has to make £42.3 million of cuts as part of a three-year plan to fill a black hole in the “cash strapped” authority’s finances.

How does the museum compare to the Titanic Museum in Belfast?

Both museums opened in 2012 as part of Titanic's 100th anniversary but they differ substantially in terms of success and offering:

- The Titanic Belfast is an iconic six-floor building featuring nine interpretive and interactive galleries that explore the sights, sounds, smells and stories of Titanic, as well as the cities and people which made her while a mix of CGI's recreate the sense of the scale of the great ship.

- On the other hand, the Southampton Sea City Museum tells the story of the story of how Titanic had an impact on just Southampton, not other parts of the world taking a more narrower view however does tell the story of the city’s maritime heritage.

- The £95m Titanic Museum was built on the quayside where the great vessel was constructed and recently saw its three millionth visitor pass through the door, vastly exceeding expectations compared to the Sea City museum which is located in Southampton City Centre away from the docks and has seen 450,000 visitors pass through it's doors.

- Southampton also lost out to rival city Belfast in marking the centenary of the sinking of Titanic after Dr Robert Ballard, who discovered the Titanic wreck in 1985 announced the formation of a partnership between the ulster city and himself as the well as his full backing and support to Belfast's Titanic Museum.