I was horrified to discover the British Engineerium at Hove is closing and the entire contents are being auctioned on May 10.

This museum is a fascinating place to visit. The models on display were built with precision and care and are beautiful to behold. The majority were built during the 18th and 19th Centuries by apprentices to showcase their engineering skills, when everything was hand-made, without the aid of the modern tools and computers we take for granted.

I have enjoyed visiting the museum on numerous occasions and have always found it a lovely, inspiring environment.

Living as far away as I do, it is not easy to visit regularly but I would have hoped such a wonderful museum could have received far greater local support.

Judging from the general lack of interest in anything mechanical, I should not really be surprised.

However, I do feel that, after 32 years in Hove, this museum deserved to receive funding to help to keep it for future generations of budding engineers.

It is interesting to note Brighton and Hove City Council is hoping to have a London-style Eye at the end of the pier.

While not supporting the British Engineerium, which is based around engineering, it is quite happy to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on an engineering project for another tourist attraction, presumably because they hope it will pull in the punters.

How little it would have cost the council to help to keep this wonderful museum a viable business, compared to other huge expenses they are contemplating, all in the name of tourism.

Needless to say, without the British Engineerium museum to visit, I will not be coming to Brighton or Hove in the future.

-Hazel Atherton, Winscombe, North Somerset