The Manx Museum will be open seven days a week starting from Easter Sunday, April 1, Manx National Heritage has announced.

From then on, for an initial one-year trial, the Douglas museum will be open from 10am to 5pm to March, 31, 2019 which is 53 Sundays.

Edmund Southworth, director of Manx National Heritage said: ’The new chairman of the Manx Museum and National Trust, Jonathan Hall, and I met with the Minister Laurence Skelly MHK and colleagues from the Department for Enterprise, late last year to address this specific issue.

’Recent audience research has suggested that opening the museum on a Sunday will attract new audiences, particularly those local people who are interested in heritage but have busy lifestyles during the working week.

’There are several cruise ships already booked to arrive in Douglas on Sundays, and of course this will increase the offer available to the many thousands of visitors who come especially for the TT and Festival of Motorcycling.’

Mr Skelly added: ’This initiative will also help us in our ambitions to deliver long-term economic, social and cultural benefits to island residents and businesses.’

A spokeswoman for Manx National Heritage said the trial is ’estimated to cost between £50,000 and £80,000’ including resources for evaluation and marketingand staffing.

It was also stated that as this is a one year trial, there would be no need to increase staffing levels and staff have been invited to put their names down for Sunday working hours.

MNH also confirmed the footbridge leading to the museum from Chester Street car park will remain open on Sundays with free parking available in Chester Street and the shop and cafe will also be open during the trial but there are currently no plans to alter library opening hours.

When asked what would deem the trial to be a success, MNH stated: ’The trial will be monitored through a number of ways including visitor surveys, visitor numbers, visitor spend, audience profiling, group visits and feedback from businesses in the visitor economy.’

The Manx Museum first opened in 1922, in the former Noble’s Hospital building and MNH claim it ’is now visited by in excess of 100,000 people each year’.

The House of Manannan in Peel is already open daily.