FUNDING cuts will not spell doom for the region's crumbling historic buildings, a senior heritage figure said last night.

This week, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced a drop in Government grants for English Heritage.

The future of the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) is also in doubt as National Lottery ticket sales drop.

The region already has the UK's highest proportion of historic buildings considered to be in serious danger.

More than eight per cent of grade I and II* listed buildings in the North-East are identified at risk, compared to the national average of 3.5 per cent.

Carol Pyrah, new regional director for English Heritage, said: "People care what goes on around them, in both the streets where they live and the places they visit at weekends. That is a very strong start."

Yesterday, she was at the Discovery Museum, in Newcastle, to launch Heritage Counts 2004, a study into the state of the region's heritage.

It showed that the region recorded the highest increase in visits to historic attractions in the UK, up ten per cent last year.

And a Mori poll showed that 96 per cent of North-East people believe it is important to keep historic features wherever possible.

The HLF contributed almost two-thirds of the £12.5m for the redevelopment of the Discovery Museum, which was once the headquarters of the Co-op Wholesale Society.