Plans to open an escape room in the cellars of a town hall have been shelved for nine months due to spiraling costs.

Stamford Town Council wanted to open the attraction at its underground jail in St Mary’s Hill to raise money for a museum project.

The council originally set aside £5,000 for the escape room but a detailed business plan drawn up by heritage officer Victoria Newton found the amount would fall short.

The figures have not been released but after weighing up the refurbishment costs against the predicted income, Victoria calculated that it would take four years for the council to recoup its money and start to make a profit.

The museum committee has agreed to revisit the idea in nine months, but for now will continue to focus its efforts on applying for museum accreditation to bring Stamford’s historic collection back into the town.

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Victoria said: “The escape room is a great idea but it’s clear it would require a lot more initial expenditure than originally thought. Focusing on the escape room has also been diverting attention away from our accreditation application.

“We want to transfer the museum collection back from Lincolnshire County Council and that needs to be our focus.”

The town council hopes to earn Arts Council England accreditation by 2025. The scheme encourages venues to meet an agreed standard in how they are run and how collections are managed.