THE award-winning Wedgwood Museum faces being hit with a £134 million bill in a legal row with the collapsed pottery giant's pension fund.

The company running the fund for the now-defunct Wedgwood Group claims the museum is responsible for the massive deficit; sparking fears it could be forced to close, or sell its world-renowned collection.

Wedgwood Pension Plan Trustee Ltd (WPPT) manages the pensions of 7,000 former and existing employees of the Barlaston manufacturer.

Wedgwood and sister company Royal Doulton collapsed into administration last year, and the museum, which was separate from the firm and run as a charitable trust, is the only surviving organisation associated with the scheme.

KPS, the U.S.-based private equity fund which bought the Wedgwood and Royal Doulton brands from the administrators last year, was not required to take on the pensions black hole due to terms of the deal.

Now WPPT, which is currently paying the pensions, is pursuing the museum for the shortfall, even though only a handful of museum staff are members of the pension plan.

A museum spokesman said: "We are in discussions with the trustees of the Wedgwood Group pension plan around the museum trust's potential contribution to the shortfall in funding in the pension plan.

"This is because five of the museum's staff participated in the Wedgwood Group pension plan, which has a total of about 7,000 members and is part of the estate of the now defunct Waterford Wedgwood."

The museum, which has charitable status, believes it is protected from liability for the shortfall due its trust status.

But sources close to the museum say WPPT is insisting on full liability.

The source told The Sentinel: "If the pension plan gets its way, the collection will have to be used to pay the deficit – and that would be the whole of the collection as it is now."

The 10,000 piece collection has been designated nationally important.

The museum won the £100,000 The Art Fund prize last year, and £25,000 of that has been used to pay for the attraction's day-to-day running as legal costs escalate.

The Sentinel understands the museum has received a further £200,000 towards legal costs from the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.

A spokesman said: "We have agreed some financial support in the short term while various legal matters are resolved."

The Charity Commission confirmed it was aware of the situation and had been advising the museum.

WPPT chairman Chris Johnson said: "We are continuing with our advisers to reach a conclusion that is in the best interests of the members of the pension scheme."

It had been expected the pension pot would have been picked up by the national Pension Protection Fund (PPF), which meets the pensions of failed companies.

But this legal move over who should meet the liabilities means the PPF has not so far taken on the fund.

Uncertainty: See Page 6