A concerned artist fears a revamp of Hall Place in Bexley will kill the attraction’s art scene.

Last month, the council revealed ambitious proposals to improve Hall Place, including merging the gallery with a new shop to increase footfall.

Painter Sheila Ottley has called for the proposals to be axed fearing a reduced gallery will drive artists out of the borough to showcase their work.

“There’s lots of artists and art groups that use the gallery”, Ms Ottley said, “They will leave some space on the walls, but this is is a standalone art gallery which brings in people from London.

“When I am in there manning the gallery people come from all over the country.”

Ms Ottley, a Bexley resident of nearly 50 years, said she has been exhibiting at Hall Place since the 70s.

She said: “It’s a short-sighted proposal to morph the incredible Stables Gallery space at Hall Place into a concoction of retail shop and corridor exit.

“Leaving local artists with the indignity of hiding behind cashiers and carrier baskets to hang their paintings is a sham.  It should be halted immediately.”

The council said more visitors would be attracted to the gallery because of its location in a shop.

According to council documents: “This scheme proposes a shared shop and gallery, to maximise the asset.

“Whilst this will require the exhibition space to be restricted to wall hangings, exhibitors will benefit from the gallery being within a shop setting, such that their exhibited items become a more integral part of the retail offer.”

Ms Ottley said the proposals are “an attack” on the local gallery “loved by artists and residents alike.”

A spokesman for the council said there will still be room for artists to showcase their work at Hall Place.

He said: “It is vital that we make better use of the current space at Hall Place if we are to ensure that the house and gardens are sustainable and accessible to all for the future.

“The majority of the existing wall display space at Hall Place will still be available when the new shop is created.  Local artists will be able to use the newly created retail space to display and sell their arts and crafts.

“A new more flexible hanging system will enable a much quicker turnaround of exhibits when items sell and will mean that we can feature more individual artists and not just arts groups as currently.”

The spokesman said space was also available at Erith and Sidcup libraries as well as at Hall Place.

The council added that feedback on the arts can be given by emailing hallplacefunctions@bexley.gov.uk.