The Lloyd George Museum has been awarded a vital lifeline after councillors approved a one-off payment to keep it open for another year.

The Llanystumdwy visitor attraction, opened in 1947, is a recreation of the former Prime Minister’s boyhood home, and boasts a vast collection including the first pension issued and a draft copy of the Great War peace treaty.

After Gwynedd Council announced that it could no longer afford to keep the attraction open, the UK Government stepped in and offered an annual £27,000 grant over three years from 2017/18.

But with this funding now coming to an end, the local authority was asked to step in and offer a “one-off” lifeline to keep it open as trustees try and secure a longer term solution.

David Lloyd George, Britain’s last Liberal prime minister, took over from Herbert Asquith at the height of the conflict in 1916, serving as head of a coalition government until 1922.

Born in Manchester to Welsh parents, he spent his childhood years in Gwynedd, going on to work for a firm of solicitors in Porthmadog before being elected to Parliament as the member for Caernarfon Boroughs in 1890- a seat he held for 55 years.

Cllr Nia Jeffreys backed the decision to offer £27,000 for 2020/21, telling Tuesday’s cabinet meeting that the museum was a “vital resource” for both Gwyned and Wales.

“We should be proud that this local man rose to the office of Prime Minister and the international stage.

“I wholly back this move but feel we do need a longer term solution.”

According to the report, open between Easter and the autumn, the museum and attracts between 6,000 – 7,000 people every year with 24 schools having visited the museum in 2018-19.

The £27,000 lifeline, it added, will allow the charity’s trustees to further assess the options and the financial and legal implications of implementing them.

The authority’s chief finance officer, Dafydd L Edwards, concluded: “There is a permanent financial gap of £27,000 facing the museum in 2020-21 since the UK Government grant, for 3 years to 31 March 2020, is coming to an end.

“The gap will continue until the Economy and Community Department develops a new model for running the site.

“It is up to the Cabinet, in its role as custodian of the Council’s budget, to decide to release £27,000 to run the museum or not.

“In the circumstances, I believe that the decision being sought is reasonable but if the money is released, I expect that conditions will be imposed, because a new scheme needs to be put in place to meet the financial gap in subsequent years.”