Date of castle reopening to be revealed this month

Nottingham Castle closed in November after its trust went into liquidation

The date for the reopening of Nottingham Castle will be revealed later this month after its trust went into liquidation, a council has said.

The castle closed in November - 18 months after a £30m relaunch.

It was handed back into the control of Nottingham City Council, which says an announcement on its future is expected soon.

Campaigners have called for the grounds to be reopened to the public as soon as possible.

During a meeting on Monday, councillor Pavlos Kotsonis said: "Whilst I cannot give you a definite date today as to when the site will reopen, I can assure you that work is taking place at pace and I will be in a position to make further public announcements, including on when the castle will reopen its doors, later this month.

"We all recognise the fundamental importance of this fantastic place, not just as a cultural asset but as an integral part of conveying the story of Nottingham."

Council leader David Mellen added: "It's very important for us, particularly now when the eyes of government are on us, to make sure that any future investment is done based on a positive and firm business model to find out what went wrong so we don't repeat those mistakes."

The castle and its grounds are closed

Penny Poyzer, from campaign group Open the Gates, has called for the grounds of the castle to be reopened as soon as possible.

She told BBC Radio Nottingham: "We completely understand it's a very complex situation that the council is in but to us the grounds are quite a separate issue.

"Before all the money was spent on the massive refurb, the very beautiful refurb, we were able to access those grounds free of charge.

"Our feeling is the castle is a separate entity and we would like to see the grounds open - it is the only bit of green space in that area and it's really important for the people of Nottingham."

Organisers had promised a "world class" attraction following the three-year refurbishment and predicted up to 400,000 visitors a year.

However, it faced a number of lukewarm reviews and complaints over cost.