‘Cultural vandalism’: row as Kew Gardens and Natural History Museum plan to move collections out of London

Scientific specimens and research facilities set to be rehoused in Reading University science park, alongside British Museum archive

It is intended to be a world-leading research facility that will house some of the UK's greatest collections of historical, botanical and zoological samples. Millions of ancient mosaics and pieces of sculpture, rare plant specimens and fossil remnants will be taken from the British Museum, the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew and the Natural History Museum (NHM) in London and rehoused at Reading University's Thames Valley Science Park in Shinfield, Berkshire.

London's ageing buildings, crumbling storage space, and soaring land prices mean a move beyond the M25 is the only realistic way to protect the capital's swelling backroom collections of scientific and cultural treasures while improving researchers' access to them, say senior museum staff. The total price-tag for the venture could top half a billion pounds.