The Friends of J Ward confirmed that the last tour of the former lunatic asylum took place on Sunday.

Tours of the site began in May of 2009 under a joint arrangement between The Friends of J Ward and the Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE (now known as Melbourne Polytechnic), which leases Aradale from the state government.

Melbourne Polytechnic has been contacted for comment.

Construction of Aradale, originally known as the Ararat Lunatic Asylum, started in 1863. It was officially opened in 1867 and operated as a mental hospital and training centre until 1993.

The secretary of The Friends of J Ward Alex Beveridge said up to 1600 people toured the Aradale site each year with the group.

“We’ve been told there are issues that Melbourne Polytechnic has to resolve and that the site will be closed to the public indefinitely,” he said.

“The tours bring a lot of people into Ararat. I’m concerned about the flow-on affects to the town it will have.”

The Friends of J Ward conduct four tours a week at the Aradale site.

Eerie Tours conducts ghost tours at the site every Friday and Saturday night, which have also ceased.

Tour operator Nathaniel Buchanan said all ghost tour bookings at Aradale had been cancelled until further notice.

“We had 200 people booked for a Halloween tour next weekend. Halloween is one of the biggest days of the year for us,” he said.

Mr Beveridge said J Ward tours were not affected by the Aradale closure and would continue as per normal.