Spinnaker Tower gets October opening

Portsmouth's troubled Spinnaker Tower is to open in October - five years late - following a council meeting last night (Tuesday).

Discussions centred on whether the 170m tower, being constructed by Mowlem, should open next month, or wait until the tourist season in summer 2006. It should have been ready in time for the Millennium.

City councillors decided it would cost more to mothball the tower than to open it in about three weeks, when work on the outside lift is completed.

The project has suffered years of problems and spiralling costs, which have left taxpayers more than £10m out of pocket.

Most recently, fears over the concrete used in the tower's contruction were dismissed by experts after small defects were found during a routine inspection in March 2004. Remedial works had been carried out to correct the faults.

A spokeswoman said 39 of the council's 42 councillors were present at the meeting - with 27 of them voting in favour of the October opening.