Wirral Eureka science museum's £6.6m funding boost

Eureka Mersey will replace the Spaceport centre at the Seacombe Ferry Terminal

A new Wirral museum aimed at getting children interested in science has been given a £6.6m boost.

The Eureka Mersey museum is set to open in 2022 on the site of the Spaceport museum at Seacombe Ferry Terminal.

It will be a sister site for the first Eureka museum which opened in Halifax, West Yorkshire, in 1992.

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has approved £6.6m investment towards the project's total cost of £11.75m.

It follows a previous £3m grant from the government's Inspiring Science Fund.

Spaceport is set to close after it was revealed its lost £250,000 a year since 2005 as visitor numbers have plummeted.

The new Eureka will feature an interactive exhibition space with workshops, a shop, café and adjoining outdoor science park.

Metropolitan mayor Steve Rotheram said the project would be good for the "wider regeneration" of Seacombe and for "jobs and economic growth across the city region".

Eureka chief executive Leigh-Anne Stradeski said: "We could not be more excited about the prospect of opening a second Eureka in Wirral.

"The level of engagement, enthusiasm and support has been absolutely incredible."

The authority also approved funding of £1m each for the boroughs of Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral to "breath new life" into the areas.