Last minute '˜snags' delay opening of North Sea Observatory

The much-anticipated observatory was originally planned to open to visitors this Friday.

However, some final works still need to be carried out on the new tourist attraction before that can happen.

The public had been invited to have their first glimpse of the first purpose built marine observatory on the North Sea in a tour of the £2m facilities on Monday.

Its completion has already been delayed in the past with the discovery of wartime sea defences and unexploded cluster bombs at the site at Chapel St Leonards.

A new opening date will be confirmed by the end of this week, say county council officials behind the project.

Coun Colin Davie, Executive Member for Economy and Place, said: “We are extremely disappointed that the opening of the North Sea Observatory will not go ahead as planned.

“The project has already been hampered by unforeseen circumstances, including the discovery of Second World War bombs and unknown historical sea defences, so this further delay is frustrating.

“It’s a very unfortunate situation, but I can assure you that we will be pulling out all the stops to get this fantastic new attraction open to visitors as soon as we can.”