Hannah Cockroft in plea to support Halifax's historic Piece Hall

The iconic landmark has suffered an 80 per cent loss in income during the lockdown period.

The consultation affects Trust employees, not staff at independent businesses which lease units within the complex in Halifax town centre.

The five time wheelchair racing champion tweeted: “We are so lucky to have this beautiful piece of history in Yorkshire. Please go and support The Piece Hall. I meet so many people who say they’ve always wanted to go- now is the time!”

Hannah is a Piece Hall Patron and was chosen by the public to ring the bell at the newly restored 18th century former cloth hall’s re-opening on Yorkshire Day in 2017.

She has also been awarded honorary degrees by The University of Bradford and York St John University and was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire in 2016.

The Trust has not revealed how many jobs will be affected.

Chief Executive of the Piece Hall Trust, Nicky Chance-Thompson, said: “Whilst we have successfully and safely reopened and are seeing more visitors returning each week, we are faced with making difficult short-term decisions to ensure a successful long-term future for The Piece Hall.

“Unfortunately, this means we have had to begin a redundancy consultation with staff, who we will support closely through this process.

“We’ve received lots of really lovely, positive messages. Thank you to everyone that has shown their support.

“Like so many other culture and heritage sites, lockdown has been a really difficult time for us.

“We are doing our best to preserve as many jobs as possible and to continue to support the Calderdale community.”