Free entry to many famous museums helped admissions to England’s leading visitor attractions rise three per cent in 2010, it was announced.

The biggest draw last year proved to be the British Museum in London where free admission boosted numbers to 5.84 million - nearly five per cent more than in 2009, VisitEngland said.

The second-biggest attraction last year was the admission-free Tate Modern in London which welcomed 5.06 million visitors - 6.6 per cent more than in 2009.

Among free-admission tourist spots where numbers increased the most last year were the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (up 15.8 per cent to 2.63 million), the Natural History Museum in London (up 13.2 per cent to 4.64 million) and Tate Britain in London (up 10.9 per cent to 1.66 million).

Top admission-charging attraction last year was the Tower of London which had around 2.41 million visitors – one per cent up on the 2009 figure.

But some famous paid-for attractions suffered dips in visits last year, with Westminster Abbey 3.8 per cent down at 1.39 million, Kew Gardens in south-west London down 12.4 per cent at 1.14 million and London Zoo down 4.5 per cent at 1.01 million.

Visits to museums and art galleries rose five per cent in 2010, with higher rises than this among those that were free. Country parks were up by five per cent, and workplaces and places of worship up by four per cent.

Across the regions, the strongest performance was in London, where admissions rose six per cent, and the North West and South East both up three per cent.

VisitEngland chief executive officer James Berresford said: “England has a wealth of top-class visitor attractions, many of which are free. We know Britons are even more worried about the economy and this will have an impact on their holiday choices.

“Competition on the world stage is tough and it is the quality of our attractions that will help to ensure that people come back time and time again to visit something new, exciting and unique to England.”