THE world-famous Liverpool telescope must be saved to inspire future scientists, the Government is told today in a damning report by MPs.

Ministers and science chiefs are told to end their "unacceptable" behaviour, which has left the two-metre telescope – used by pupils studying physics and astronomy – under threat from harsh spending cuts to the National Schools’ Observatory (NSO) project .

The all-party Commons science and technology committee warns that students will be forced to simply "learn physics out of a textbook" if the Liverpool telescope is lost.

And it points out that the telescope – owned and operated by John Moores University on an extinct volcano in the Canary Islands – needs a weekly grant of just £5,000 to survive.

Andrew Miller, the Ellesmere Port and Neston MP, who chairs the committee, said: "We heard first-hand from students the value of the Liverpool telescope for their studies.

“It will be a serious blow if the UK loses such a vital educational tool and we urge the research councils to do everything they can to find a solution.

“The idea that subjects like astronomy and particle physics do not provide immediate economic returns and can be sacrificed at the altar of cutbacks is a nonsense.

“Other countries are getting it right – invest in science and innovation now, and reap the longer-term rewards of economic growth.

“If the UK is seen to send out a message that these scientific fields deserve to be relegated to lower divisions, what hope is there for inspiring the next generation of scientists.”

Ministers will respond to the report in coming weeks.