Conservative Councillors in Plymouth have come under fire by history experts for allowing some of the nation's most valuable artefacts to be lost to the city. Archivists are furious after the Council Leader Vivien Pengelly reneged on promises she made in January 2009 to prevent records from being repatriated out of the city for their own protection.

Labour's Cllr Tina Tuohy, who is an archaeology lecturer was contacted by a colleague Todd Gray, who had been so concerned about the fate of these archives that he has been leading a campaign to protect the City's archives.

In an email to Cllr Tuohy, Dr Gray says: "Although we had been fobbed off by the council throughout 2008, we felt we needed to give the city time to prove they could deal with us honestly. Not one promise of action has been fulfilled."

Referring to the downgrading of the project's priority within the Culture Services Budget, Dr Gray says "It is rather despicable to try and qualify a promise made, publicly, in front of 100 people."

Cllr Peter Smith said: "In 2006, Labour put together a project, under the banner of Plymouth Heritage Centre, to save the city's archives and TSW film archive. The Tories never really followed it through."

In 2009, Tory Councillor Andy Fox praised Mrs Pengelly for her "commitment to making positive step to provide a permanent home as soon as possible". But no budgetary provision - not even for a feasibility study - yet exists.

"Dr Gray alleges that the bid for funds to Heritage Lottery Fund was secretly withdrawn by the Conservatives in 2008.

Cllr Tuohy says that the archives - including documents dating back to Sir Francis Drake's time, are too valuable to be lost from the city. But the clock is ticking. If nothing is provided within the next two years then in 2013 the National Archive will step in and remove them from Plymouth for their own safekeeping.

"For Plymouth to lose its own archive would be a national humiliation and a total disgrace."