Government poised to sell the Dome

THE Government is poised to rid itself of its most embarrassing failure and finally sell off the £800m Millennium Dome. Ministers will meet today before making a public announcement, probably on Tuesday.

It is thought ministers are ready to hand sire, on London's Greenwich peninsula, to Meridian Delta, one of three bidders vying to buy it.

Meridian plans to build a 20,000-seat stadium inside the Dome and develop the site with housing, offices and leisure facilities. The consortium will bring in the £14bn US entertainment giant Anshutz - the company behind basketball legends LA Lakers - to develop entertainment at the Dome. The attraction of the Meridian Delta bid is that it offers the Government a stake in future profitability of the enterprise. It is regarded as a vital clause following the tens of millions of pounds of public money poured into the Millennium project.

Lord Falconer, who was put in charge of the Dome by Prime Minister Tony Blair, and fellow ministers, will consider the recommendation of English Partnerships, the regeneration agency appointed by the Government to oversee the politically-sensitive bid procedure. English Partnerships is said to have recommended that the Government accepts the Meridian Delta bid.

The expected ruling will come as a disappointment to the two rival bidders - particularly Topps Estates which wanted to build a similar project including an indoor ski slope, a sports academy and a 5,000-seat arena. An alternative proposal by the medical charity the Wellcome Trust envisaged transforming the site into a bio-tech complex.

It is unclear how much Meridian Delta will pay to secure the Greenwich site on an expected 10 to 20-year lease.