Bradford’s threatened National Media Museum has been saved from possible closure, delighted MPs said tonight.

They emerged from a showdown meeting with Culture Minister Ed Vaizey convinced the Government would not allow the much-loved museum to disappear.

Shipley MP Philip Davies, who secured the meeting, said: “That is certainly not on his agenda – he made that absolutely clear – and he’s hopeful the cuts will not be as drastic as some people feared.”

And George Galloway, the Bradford West MP, went further, saying: “The museum will not close. The minister said it was a political non-starter – and that’s a direct quote.”

The news everyone in Bradford was waiting to hear came 11 days after the threat of closure first emerged, because of looming spending cuts.

The Science Museum Group warned one of three Northern museums it runs would have to be axed, if Chancellor George Osborne pressed ahead with ten per cent cuts.

That pitched the NMM into a battle for survival with the National Railway Museum in York, and the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester - prompting the Telegraph & Argus to mount a campaign to save it that has been backed by people in their thousands.

But, faced with the fierce backlash, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), is believed to have a struck a deal with the Treasury to escape the worst of the cuts.

It is now expected that museums and art galleries will lose only five per cent of their budgets – half that faced by other Government departments in the spending settlement, on June 26.

The Treasury is also expected to allow them to borrow up to £40 million per year, to invest in future growth, and have greater freedom to spend their reserves.

Some of the likely settlement was set out by Mr Vaizey last night, although the full details of the package is still under wraps.

Speaking after the meeting, all MPs made clear that a long hard road still lay ahead to put the NMM on a sound footing – after visitor numbers halved to 500,000.

That will involve talks with Bradford Council, and other potential sources of financial help, and with the Science Museum Group – which still faces cuts.

But Mr Davies, a Conservative, added: “I am far more hopeful about the future than I was one week ago.

“Ed Vaizey made clear that he was absolutely committed to the National Media Museum and regretted the alarm caused by people fearing it could close.

“Our discussion was more about how we now make the museum a success – rather than whether we have to save it.”

And Mr Galloway, a Respect MP, said: “This shows just what can be achieved by action, by this democratic uprising in Bradford. I’m a very happy man.”

David Ward, the Liberal Democrat MP for Bradford East, said: “The museum has been saved, but more work will be needed. It was very welcome to hear the minister’s regret for the alarm caused.”

Gerry Sutcliffe, Bradford South Labour MP, was more cautious.

He said: "Ed Vaisey does not want the Media Museum to close, but there are serious challenges for the museu.

“He wants the discussions to take place between the local authority, the University and the Science Museum Group to help reinvent it to bring it to its former glory.

“I think we have made significant progress as a result of the T&A campaign and the coming together of the great and the good and the people of Bradford who do not want this museum to close."

In a short statement, a DCMS spokesman said: “The Chancellor will shortly set out the Government’s spending plans for 2015-16.

“However, we are clear about the value of the Media Museum in Bradford to the local area and to the UK as a whole.”