The Musical Museum in Brentford has launched a fund-raising appeal after its revenue has been badly hit by the second lockdown.

It is run on a charity basis and the museum is totally dependent on money it gets from admissions, donations and events.

The museum is asking for donations and for people to support it by becoming a subscriber.

The museum said: "We have been working hard to prepare the Museum to re-open safely, which includes significant changes and updates to our ground floor layout and timed admission tickets to allow us to maintain social distancing.

"Unfortunately because of the new restrictions imposed by the UK Government we are temporarily closed once more, until the national lockdown is lifted and it is safe for us to welcome visitors again.

"This has removed our only source of operating income - our small charity is totally dependent on income from visitors, events and donations."

To help the museum you can make a one-off donation via PayPal or or subscribe with Patreon to support the Museum and access news, live events and more.

The Musical Museum was founded more than 50 years ago by the late Frank Holland who started with his own private collection of some half dozen reproducing pianos.

In 1963 he was given use of the former St George's Church, Brentford to bring the collection under one roof.

The collection was formed into a Charitable Trust in 1966 as The British Piano Museum.

In the early years, a number of famous pianists who had recorded rolls earlier in the century, came to the museum to hear themselves play.

The museum's collection has grown steadily and it now includes a wide range of musical instruments and unique inventions which tell the story of how music was recorded and captured through the ages.