Ministers have gone back to the drawing board in the search for a new chair for the V&A Museum, one of the most prestigious cultural jobs in Britain.

Sky News has learnt that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has ordered a restart to the process of recruiting a successor to Sir Nicholas Coleridge.

Whitehall sources said that the original process had stalled after the frontrunner for the post, Samir Shah, instead accepted the opportunity to chair the BBC.

The decision to order a fresh search is the latest search for board members at a key British cultural institution to hit an impasse.

Insiders say that scores of roles are waiting to be filled, causing consternation among both existing trustees of museums and applicants for the posts.

News of the hiatus comes days after the V&A and British Museum agreed a three-year deal to loan treasure looted by

Sir Nicholas, who was named last year as the new Provost of Eton College, has also been appointed as chair of Historic Royal Palaces.

Former Victoria and Albert Museum director Martin Roth dies aged 62

He has been replaced on an interim basis by Nigel Webb, a property industry veteran.

The original application process opened last April, with interviews scheduled for early July.

Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, is required to sign off the eventual appointment.

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A DCMS spokesman declined to comment on Tuesday.

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