Correspondence between the BBC and Cardiff council shows how the authority tried to keep the announcement of the closure of the Doctor Who Experience under wraps for as long as possible Wales Online are reporting this evening.

The popular Cardiff Bay attraction is set to close later this year when a five-year lease comes to an end.

But despite enquiries as far back as June 2016 from Wales Online journalists wanting to let people know what the future held the news was only made official in November.

Now dozens of emails between officials at the two organisations have been released under freedom of information laws.

Although many details – including regarding the lease and the names of those involved – have been redacted the emails appear to show Cardiff council keen not to draw attention to the fact the closure would be happening during 2017.

One email alluded to a disagreement between BBC Worldwide and the council on how the news should be announced. The email, from a Cardiff council official, added: “The reality is, if WalesOnline are not chasing the story, we want to hold it back for as long as possible.”

Another asked: “Is there any pressure being put on you by WalesOnline?” The reply given was: “There isn’t a huge amount of pressure. However, to pre-empt any leaks [redacted] especially as they have asked the question, rather than being told on the grapevine, making it a bigger story than it actually is.”

Those latter emails were dated November 7, the same day BBC Worldwide announced the Doctor Who Experience would close.

When WalesOnline first contacted BBC Worldwide for confirmation about what the future held back in June they said that plans to close in 2017 were “currently correct and we are looking at our future plans”, adding: “We will make an announcement in due course.”

But emails from September last year showed that behind-the-scenes talks were taking place, with a BBC email stating: “These discussions are [redacted] discuss how to communicate the end of lease message, which we have all agreed should be positive and reflect that this is the end of a fixed lease and no reflection on either Cardiff or Doctor Who.”

Another email sent from the BBC three weeks later said a conversation had been had with senior management at BBC Worldwide and BBC Public Service.

It added: “We are asked to treat this information as confidential as we are about to enter a formal HR process with regards our staff in Cardiff. Could I ask that Cardiff Council also treat this as confidential until we have reached the appropriate point in our HR procedure and we have all agreed the form of words to be used in the public domain.”

The land on which the Doctor Who Experience stands is leased from the Welsh Government by Cardiff council, who then sublet it for use by BBC Worldwide as the Doctor Who Experience. The five-year sublease was always due to end this year.

A Cardiff council spokesman said: “The lease on the Doctor Who Experience was due to end in summer 2017. On November 7, 2016 – the date this email relates to – discussions were still ongoing about the possibility of keeping a Doctor Who presence in the city.

“The city council was simply querying whether any information on a closure, which was more than 10 months away, should be made public before those discussions had concluded.”