In the £6.2bn round of savings, the Department of Culture Media and Sport was told to cut back £88m.

The government has also pulled the plug on the planned £25m visitor centre at Stonehenge. The UK Film Council, which costs £15m a year and employs 75 people, is going, along with 15 other bodies, including the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.

The BBC licence fee is to be frozen for the next six years.