The report says the garden has no future in its present form

Welsh Culture Minister Alun Pugh is due to reveal to the Welsh assembly later whether the attraction will receive �3m in extra funding.

After a promising start when it opened in 2000, visitor numbers at the attraction have slumped and it has been kept afloat by emergency handouts.

Last week, Mr Pugh was asked to consider the �3m rescue package put forward by trustees at the garden in Carmarthenshire.

To close the Garden would be an act of gross cultural vandalism Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM

But a panel of five leading international tourism experts set up by the Wales Tourist Board have described the attraction as having no future in its present form.

The findings of a two-day think-tank on the garden were compiled by tourism expert Professor Terry Stevens.

Those involved in the report said they were saddened by what they called the garden trustees' low aspirations.

They said: "The group is concerned that public confidence in the product as an attraction is now at such a nadir it is likely to be irrecoverable with the garden in its current format.

"Overall it is the view of the group that the garden has little value and potential as a stand-alone visitor attraction capable of any commercial future.

"In its current format, it is unlikely ever to produce sufficient revenue income to meet its revenue expenditure.

"There will not be a quick fix and the further spending on non-impactful items to try to create an appealing visitor attraction is considered to be unwise."

CRITICISMS OF GARDEN Site looks more like a campus than a garden Lack of coherence in design Great Glasshouse is not an asset Large scale of the Botanic Garden is a problem Change of name to Middleton confused marketplace

They added that the proposals by the trustees for "improving the product are unlikely to achieve their objectives and their costs are regarded as underestimates".

The think-tank concluded that there were several ways ahead for the garden.

Scientific research

One was as visitor attraction, but only after major investment and ongoing subsidy.

A second option was for it to become a campus for scientific research.

And a third option envisaged the garden becoming a health and well-being destination involving spa treatments and alternative medicine.

In their own 21-point rescue plan outlined last week, trustees at Middleton said they needed �3m over the next six years to make sure the garden stayed open.

The Welsh Assembly Government had previously ruled out giving them any more money, but Mr Pugh agreed to consider the plan.

'National treasure'

So far Middleton, which is in Llanarthne, has managed to survive thanks to emergency handouts from the Welsh Assembly Government, Carmarthenshire Council and the Millennium Commission.

But most of the 100 full and part-time staff at the gardens have already been made redundant, and it is feared that the site could close unless Mr Pugh announces later that more funding will be made available.

Rhodri Glyn Thomas, AM for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr in which the garden is situated, said Mr Pugh must not allow the attraction to close.

He told BBC Radio Wales: "There's nothing new in this report.

"No-one has ever said that there have been no mistakes in the way the garden has been run and marketed, but the fact is, the garden is a national treasure.

"To close the garden would be an act of gross cultural vandalism.

"The way the garden is run and marketed has to change, but there's tremendous potential at the National Botanic Garden."