Eden Project Morecambe to go ahead with £50m fund

Eden Project Morecambe is set to be completed in 2027 or 2028 (artist's impression)

The government has committed to fully funding the £50m Eden Project Morecambe, a local MP has said.

The planned eco-visitor attraction, next to Morecambe Bay in Lancashire, was promised £50m of the previous government's Levelling Up fund, which Labour had not yet committed to.

Labour MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale Lizzi Collinge earlier told BBC Radio Lancashire: "£50m is in the bag and Eden Project Morecambe is going ahead."

She said the project, which is set to be completed in 2027 or 2028, would provide 1,400 local jobs and attract "nearly one million visitors every year" to the town.

'Transformation'

Collinge said the project represented a "transformation for Morecambe", which she said had been "left behind for years".

She said paperwork between project partners Lancaster City Council and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government would likely be signed-off in the coming weeks.

The project's director of transformation, Si Bellamy, said a final business plan had been submitted at the end of August.

Eden Project Morecambe - a sister site to the original Eden Project in Cornwall - is described as a "global garden" and will feature large shell-shaped pavilions overlooking Morecambe Bay.

It is expected to open in 2027 or 2028.