Plans by the Museum of London to privatise its archaeological service, MOLA, and set it up as an independent charity mark a turning away from archaeology and will damage the reputation of the museum, Prospect has warned.

The union represents 200 specialist staff at the museum, which is making 11 staff redundant, including senior curators in prehistory and Roman history. Conservators and front-of-house staff will also lose their jobs.

Plans for a new Roman gallery have been postponed and the award-winning London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre, the repository for London’s archaeological finds, is also under review.

Prospect negotiator Dave Allen said: “Although the redundancies were made on a voluntary basis, the job cuts will damage the museum. We are particularly concerned that the cuts, in conjunction with the planned privatisation of the archaeology service, mark a turning-away by MOL from archaeology and London’s early history. This is a mistake, since MOL was founded to take care of extensive archaeological collections from the London and Guildhall Museums and archaeology is hugely popular with museum visitors.

“MOLA contributes to the academic standing of the museum – 80 per cent of the publications detailed in the most recent MOL annual report derive from MOLA or archaeology. At a time of funding cuts, MOLA has the potential to earn hundreds of thousands of pounds for the museum. We share the concerns of academics who have spoken out against the changes.”