Kew Gardens owns by far the largest art collection of any non-departmental public body in the UK - but only 0.4 per cent is on public display.

The Royal Botanic Gardens displays just 876 pieces to the public, despite owning a 201,030 strong collection, according to a report by the Taxpayers' Alliance.

The world-renowned gardens' head of library, art and archives Christopher Mills said the report does not take into account the "vast majority" that are used for scientific research.

He said: "Of the 201,030 works in the Kew collections, the vast majority are used for scientific research purposes by scientists from Kew and other research institutions.

"While most of these works are considered scientifically valuable, they have not been collected for ‘aesthetic’ purposes.

"Items in the collection can be consulted in the publicly accessible Library Reading Room."

He added that a number of works are displayed in other galleries at the gardens and on loan in Japan.

Richmond Council only displays 80 items of its 4,199 pieces, which totals £3m in value.

Jonathan Isaby, Taxpayers' Alliance chief executive, said: "Kew Gardens and Richmond Council should make an effort to display more of their art for people to enjoy.

"They could perhaps look at loaning pieces to local schools, hospitals and care centres so that it is appreciated but also so that taxpayers get value for money.

"Every public body has a duty to constantly assess its art portfolio and think about what does and does not need to be retained."

Deputy leader of the council, Councillor Geoffrey Samuel said it is "not as simple as it may seem" to display art works in the borough.

He said: "The great trouble with many is security and the other is that if you have old paintings, you have to have the right ambient temperature for it to survive.

"You cannot stick paintings of value up just anywhere.

"But it would be a good challenge for us, when the opportunity arises, to see if we can possibly display more."

Do you think Richmond Council and Kew Gardens should make more effort to displays its arts collections? Email lettersrtt@london.newsquest.co.uk to tell us why.