More than 150 public figures, including astronaut Tim Peake, musicians Sir Brian May and Jarvis Cocker, and physicists Prof Jim Al-Khalili and Prof Brian Cox, have signed an open letter urging the government to reverse a "foolish" decision and urgently find funding to save Jodrell Bank Observatory. Around £2.8m has been withdrawn from the Cheshire site, leaving the University of Manchester needing to secure alternative funding by 2028, after which scientific observations would cease unless the money is found.

The UK Research and Innovation agency (UKRI), which cut the observatory's annual £2.8m budget amid rising research and lab costs, said it must prioritise projects delivering "the greatest long-term impact". Twenty-eight jobs at the site are at risk, and closure would also affect nearly 3,000 scientists who use the facility, a Unesco World Heritage Site dominated by the Lovell Telescope. The letter argues Jodrell Bank, headquarters of the Square Kilometre Array Observatory and host to 25,000 schoolchildren a year, delivers huge value for a modest investment, while Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said he remains committed to sustaining the UK's world-leading research capabilities.