Eden Project consulting over job losses

The Eden Project's outgoings exceeded its income for 2010/11

Jobs could be under threat at the Eden Project in Cornwall, the charity has confirmed.

The group, which employs about 490 staff at the attraction near St Blazey, blamed "the tough economic climate".

In a statement, the organisation said: "This is likely to mean that a small number of redundancies will need to be made across the team."

A consultation began on Monday, but it said it could not say "what the number of jobs lost could be".

The Eden Project statement continued: "We are considering how best to get through this challenging time and as part of this we have been examining our operations and costs."

The Eden Project Limited is owned by the Eden Trust, a registered UK Charity.

Thecompany's accounts, published by The Charity Commission for England and Wales, for 2010/2011 showed that the Eden Project's income was £31,849,974, while its outgoings stood at £33,628,321.

Reports from the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions in 2009 and 2010 showed that the number of visitors to the attraction, which includes a rainforest and Mediterranean biome, had fallen year on year.

The project received just over one million visitors in 2011 - down 3% on the previous year.