The museum is also being investigated by the Charity Commission<\/a> over concerns about its governance surrounding a dispute between trustees.<\/p>\n Anne Gubbins, the co-chair of the trustees, told BBC Radio Stoke she had received a call from the alarm company<\/a> on Monday morning.<\/p>\n “There’d been a break-in and the lock has been removed from the door this time,” she said.<\/p>\n Cheshire Police said: “We have been contacted again today in relation to the museum and we are looking into it.”<\/p>\n Ms Gubbins said the museum had hosted its Christmas Grotto this weekend, with more than 150 children visiting, which she said was “absolutely lovely”.<\/p>\n She said the children “didn’t realise” the ongoing issues.<\/p>\n “I think some of the parents were aware, but we didn’t talk about it”.<\/p>\n A report, commissioned by the board of trustees, said recent events around the dispute “should be considered a serious incident” and were reported to the Charity Commission.<\/p>\n The regulator said: “We have opened a compliance case into Congleton Museum Trust to assess concerns raised about the charity’s governance.”<\/p>\n Arts Council England also confirmed it had added the museum to its risk register.<\/p>\n The museum opened in 2002 [BBC]<\/p>\n Calls have been made for founding trustee Ian Doughty to resign over claims he changed the locks to the building and tried to suspend the other seven trustees.<\/p>\n Mr Doughty has been approached for an interview or a comment, but previously said there had been a “misinformation campaign” waged against him.<\/p>\n He also described the report commissioned by the board as “fake” and said the museum was not at risk.<\/p>\n “This project has enjoyed decades of success thanks to the work of our volunteers and we should all hope for this to continue,” he said.<\/p>\n Ms Gubbins said the trustees would meet shortly to “decide where we go from here”.<\/p>\n “The town hall, which are our landlords, are going to look after the keys so all of us can only get access when we ask for it, which is a very sensible arrangement for the time being, I think, and we’ll see where we go,” she said.<\/p>\n The museum is now set to remain closed until 6 January.<\/p>\n Read more Cheshire stories from the BBC<\/a> and follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, X<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n More on this storyRelated internet links![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/8c657b7519496322a9a9e71daa06698b.jpeg\"\/)
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