Labour was warned over Dome figures

This is the Millennium Dome as you've never seen it before - turned from a troubled symbol of Labour blunders into a proud advertisement for London's 2012 Olympic bid.

The new image seeks to use one of the capital's newest landmarks as part of a bid to portray the city as the modern choice for hosting the games.

But the Olympic campaign came as fresh evidence emerged of the Dome's financial chaos before it was opened in 2000.

Secret documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show that ministers were warned as early as 1997 that the project in Greenwich might not attract enough visitors.

Officials pointed out that predictions of 12 million visitors were "ambitious" and it would be "prudent" not to try to "pump up" income projections.

The advice went unheeded. Only 4.5 million visitors actually went to the attraction and the Dome swallowed more than ?600million of Lottery cash to fend of bankruptcy.

An internal memo from the operations director of the Millennium Experience Company soon after Labour came to power warned that those who believed the 12 million visitor figure could be achieved were "unaware of the content of the Experience and the anticipated quite high admission charge".