Stondon Motor Museum to close its doors for good

Time is running out to visit one of the best motor museums in the country before it closes permanently on Monday and the exhibits are sold at auction.

Bedfordshire’s Stondon Motor Museum, which has one of the UK’s biggest private collections of classic vehicles, will shut its doors for good on Easter Monday.

Falling visitor numbers and high rates mean it’s no longer financially viable to keep the museum going. When the doors close for good, the cars will be auctioned by Brightwells.

Opened in 1994 by enthusiast John Saunders, the museum has 400 classic vehicles across eight halls.

But when John died in 2013, the privately-owned museum struggled to attract enough visitors to pay the bills. John’s son Chris Saunders said he and his dad had spent many happy years building up the collection, but that looking after such a large number of vehicles had become too much.

Once the doors are locked on Monday, April 6, the vehicles will be auction by Brightwells at its Leominster, Herefordshire, over two sales on 29 April and 10 June.

• Click here to see our highlights from the museum's collection