A WORLD famous tourist attraction in Malmesbury will open its doors for one last season despite speculation that it could remain closed.

The Abbey House Gardens will be opening for one more year from March 21 until the last week of October with their annual fundraiser for the National Gardens Scheme held on March 15.

The gardens are open to the public and were made famous by the addition of ‘clothes optional’ days. They sit outside a picturesque 16th century mansion and have drawn in as many as 60,000 visitors per year.

Since owners Ian and Barbara Pollard announced that they were to divorce there had been fears that Malmesbury could lose the tourist attraction to someone who chose to use the house as a private residence.

Mr Pollard, 69, said that he hoped that the house and gardens would go to someone who loved gardening as much as he did.

He said: “Whether a private buyer would continue to keep the gardens open to the public I have no idea. The chances are that this could be the last year the gardens are open to the public.

“I hope that someone who is keen on gardening and flowers takes it on. I think it would be nice and it would be good for Malmesbury if it continued.

“Group bookings are still coming through – Japanese, German, Australian, Scandinavian.

“I think a lot of people feel that it will put a serious dent into the tourism because of the number of visitors we currently bring in.”

Mr Pollard said that he would be leaving Malmesbury once the house was sold and was hoping to purchase a chalet in France.