British Museum boss says 'sorry' and vows to learn 'lessons' from Bayeux Tapestry visitor issues after complaints about lack of audio guide and overcrowding

The head of the British Museum has apologised and vowed to 'learn lessons' over a series of complaints about the chaotic handling of the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition.The nearly 1,000-year-old embroidery is currently on loan at the museum from its home in France in what is thought to be its first trip to the UK since it was finished. Tickets for the first part of the once-in-a-lifetime exhibition quickly sold out, but visitors have said they have been let down after lengthy queues, being rushed through the exhibition or not being able to enter at all.There has also been criticism over the lack of any audio guide and accessibility problems for disabled visitors.Yesterday the Director of the British Museum Nicholas Cullinan apologised for the mishaps and vowed to improve.'Anyone that doesn't have a good experience, we're really sorry about that and we want to put it right,' he told the BBC. 'You don't want anyone that comes to see it to have a bad experience, so our focus is very much on getting it right and learning lessons.' The artefact is on loan to the UK from its usual museum in Bayeux, France, for a year in what is thought to be its first return to British soil since it was made Nicholas Cullinan (centre) officially opens the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition last monthHe added the museum had failed to foresee the amount of time visitors would want to spend viewing the 68.3m-long artefact.'[It] isn't just the interest, it's that people want to spend more time than anticipated. And that's a good thing. We want people to come and enjoy it, but it means we have to adjust accordingly and that's what we're doing,' Mr Cullinan added.The exhibition has been open since September and is expecting to see its 100,000th visitor in the coming days. Bosses have been scrambling to make adjustments after the complaints, which will now include longer opening hours, clearer signage and more seating.A new audio guide has also been launched which officials hope will help people move through the exhibition.The museum has previously resisted criticism it has sold too many tickets, and its position is that guests have wanted to stay longer than their 40-minute time slot. This has led to other visitors being hurried through or turned away due to the room capacity limit.It comes after hundreds of visitors were denied entry to view the Bayeux Tapestry last week despite having purchased timed tickets. On Wednesday afternoon those waiting in line were handed paper notices saying they would not be allowed to enter due to 'space and time restrictions', with some saying they were told by staff that a 'private event' was taking place. The exhibition has been barraged with complaints about long queues and ticketholders being turned away without seeing the Bayeux TapestryIt later emerged that Samsung was holding a gala dinner at the museum to mark the opening of its Korea exhibition. Among those in attendance were Princess Anne, the Chancellor and Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader.Dr Ellen Walker took to social media to share her frustration and said: 'Waited since I was seven years old to see the Bayeux Tapestry. Got in an hour-long online queue to spend £50 on tickets. 'Got there ahead of time. Stood in a queue for 20 minutes. Then was told halfway through the queue that the gallery was closing.'The British Museum stinks.'Another visitor told the Daily Mail that the museum had 'really stuffed up' over the gala. 'Hundreds of people – many of whom had come from a long way away, including the American couple in front of us – were turned away from the exhibition, despite having legitimate tickets and having queued for 45 minutes, because of a 'private event' which meant the museum had to be closed earlier than usual,' they said.'Surely a private event can't be so last minute that the ticket holders couldn't have been warned?'Issues have also been reported on days where the museum has not closed early. Scores of people with timed tickets were turned away last week or had their allotted 40-minute slot cut short.One visitor, John Wilson, arrived for his 4.20pm slot but was forced to wait more than two hours before reaching the first panel. And just 20 minutes later, museum staff turned off the lights in the gallery and ordered everyone to leave. There have also been complaints about accessibility - Dr Yusuf Ali Osman, who is blind, threatened to sue the museum last week for breaching the Equality Act after he got in touch asking whether audio described tours would be available.The museum told him that self-guided visits would be prioritised over programmed tours, his legal representatives said, due to restrictions on visitor numbers.Dr Osman, from Croydon, said: 'I hope that this legal action will help make sure that blind and partially sighted people are properly considered when major exhibitions are planned, so that we can enjoy and engage with our national cultural institutions on a more equal footing.'