Open-air concerts at one of the country's best-loved music venues could be cancelled permanently because of financial difficulties.

Annual musical concerts have become a popular feature at the National Trust property in Claremont Landscape Garden's pioneering calendar of events, attracting musicians of the calibre of jazz vocalist Katie Melua and Ian Brown, the legendary former frontman of the Stone Roses.

But it was announced last week they are being shelved this year with organisers saying they cannot guarantee the concerts will resume as hoped in 2007.

Michelle Kent, visitor services manager, admitted that the £200,000 cost of staging the concerts was putting pressure on the National Trust.

She said: "We have to consider the financial risk very carefully as profits have declined in recent years and we must not let this affect out core purpose of conservation and management of the garden.

"It can cost us more than £200,000 to put on a weekend of events. As a charity, we have to consider the financial risk extremely carefully."

Although garden bosses stress the plan is for the concerts to only take a "year out" to consider the options for providing first class summer entertainment in the future, they admit that there is a possibility that the concerts may never come back.

Michelle Kent added: "There is no guarantee that the concerts will be going back on. It will depend on resources and public support.

"We will assess the situation this year.

"This will include looking at what else is going on in the area, how much competition there is, how much public demand there is, looking at our finances, and seeing what can be done in terms of making a profit for the concerts.

"At the moment we want to encourage regular visitors to the gardens throughout the year rather than attracting them to one big weekend event.

"We certainly don't want to give anyone the impression that they are definitely going back on in 2007. We want to leave our options open.

"If we did decide to continue the concerts the money would have to come from central funds at the National Trust, which underwrite the event.

"They put up the money for the infrastructure and we look at ways we can make a profit from the event but this has become harder and harder in recent years so we've had to reassess things."

benl@london.newsquest.co.uk