The garden had hoped for cash help to keep it open

On Wednesday, an army of volunteers moved in to Middleton, in a concerted effort to keep the attraction open.

Keen amateur gardeners and skilled horticulturalists turned up at the site in Llanarthne, Carmarthenshire, to help carry out maintenance work in the 10-acre grounds.

We've managed to buy ourselves a little more time Mark James, Carmarthenshire council

On Tuesday it was revealed that the garden could close within days after the trustees rejected a �150,000 rescue package from Carmarthenshire County Council - saying conditions attached about the attraction's long-term future were unacceptable.

But following talks, it emerged on Wednesday that it seemed almost certain trustees would accept the grant - giving the gardens a reprieve of around a month.

Alan Hayward, chairman of the Middleton trustees, said that the garden had always wanted to accept the offer made by Carmarthenshire council.

He added: "We want to accept the offer - it's not a question of wanting to reject it.

"What's changes today is that (council chief executive) Mark James and myself have got together and ironed out some of the misunderstandings that arose over this.

"There are some issues which are important for the trustees and some very important issues for Carmarthen County Council.

"We were able to satisfy each other that we both felt there was light at the end of the tunnel if we could use �150,000 to help seek jointly a partnership with an outside developer or whoever to continue the gardens."

Visitor numbers at Middleton have fallen well below expectations

And Mark James, chief executive of Carmarthenshire council, said the talks had bought the attraction time to attract potential new owners.

"We had a very constructive meeting this morning and we now understand far better each other's respective positions and we feel we can now move forward together," he said.

"We've managed to buy ourselves a little more time - about six weeks hopefully - and we will continue the work we are already doing with interested parties.

"We hope there will be a long-term and sustainable future for this fantastic facility in Carmarthenshire and that's what we are all working towards.

"And the interest that we have had expressed from outside, from other parties, leads us to conclude that it is far more of a possibility than it was before."

Middleton had to be kept afloat thanks to emergency handouts - from the Welsh Assembly Government, the local council, and the Millennium Commission - because low visitors numbers have made it impossible to balance the books.

Earlier this month the garden was on the brink of closing when it emerged it had reached the end of its �2m overdraft.

Since then there has been a number of twists and turns over the its survival.

Last Tuesday it emerged that talks were going ahead with a number of private companies - said to be household names in tourism and leisure - interested in securing Middleton's future.

Many of the 100 full and part-time staff at the gardens have already been made redundant.