THE beautiful gardens of Hampton Court Palace will NOT be fully reopening for free access despite the end of the pandemic, it has been announced.

Instead, the Palace will hold a number of free 'open garden' days over the year, including this weekend, as a thank you to the local community.

It comes after more than 2,000 people signed a petition this January to return the gardens to free access or introduce cheaper entry prices for the winter season.

At the time, Historic Royal Palaces, which runs Hampton Court Palace, responded that the impact of the pandemic on its finances meant it wasn't possible to open the gardens for free anymore.

Since then, almost 4,000 people have now signed the Change.org petition and a leafleting campaign has been started, while the issue continues to attract local media attention.

Yesterday it was announced that the whole of the Palace gardens - formal and informal - will be free for neighbours and locals to visit on selected 'open days' over the year.

No booking is required and entry is via the Trophy Gate or Rose Garden.

The first free access days are on 19 and 20 March - a time when people typically go to the Palace to enjoy the 12,000 daffodils of its Wilderness garden in bloom.

Other garden open days this year include Sat 7th & Sun 8th May, Monday 4th – Sunday 10th July, Sat 10th & Sun 11th September and Sat 19th & Sun 20th November.

The Palace's Magic Garden, Maze and Palace will still have paid entry on open days and require tickets.

The scheme was revealed in an open letter to Palace neighbours written by Lucy Hutchings, the Head of Hampton Court Palace, and Palaces Group Director Nicola Andrews.

In the letter, the pair said: "We are acutely aware that the changes in access arrangements to the gardens are disappointing for many and we are sorry for that, we understand our role in the community and wish to provide access where we can, but I'm afraid our priority continues to be focused on ensuring our charity survives in order to safeguard the palace for generations to come.

"The support of our neighbours and the local community really matters to us and we can assure you the changes we have implemented aren't decisions we have taken lightly, so whilst we are not able to facilitate daily free access to the gardens as we once did, we would like to programme in a number of days over the course of the year where our local community can access the gardens for free as a thank you to everyone for their understanding and patience during this time."

They added: "As a reminder of the situation we find ourselves in, we lost £100m in income in the first year of the pandemic and all of our £40m reserves.

"In 2021/22, we will have welcomed around a third of our usual visitors and we are forecasting to lose £17m this financial year. In addition, we have had to take out a £40m loan.

"Our aim in the financial year ahead is that we reach an operating break-even position, but sadly we anticipate our overall financial recovery will take many years as we are heavily dependent on overseas tourism for our income and we also need to repay the loan.

"For that reason, at the moment and for the foreseeable future, I am afraid we will need to continue to operate within our reduced means and we unfortunately cannot afford to open everything in the way we used to pre-pandemic."

Hutchings and Andrews added that they hope the Palace will have another 'neighbours picnic' evening this summer following good feedback on last year's after-hours event.

Find out more about Hampton Court Palace HERE