Troubled Bath Spa to open in June

The spa was originally supposed to open in September 2002

The company behind the long-awaited Bath Spa project says the complex will finally open to visitors in June.

The spa was originally planned as a £19m Millennium Project, and had been due to open in September 2002.

But in the face of major building problems and rows with contractors, costs rocketed to more than £35m.

Now Thermae Bath Spa says it will be ready four to six weeks after the building is handed over by the council at the end of April or start of May.

A company spokeswoman said once the handover was completed an official opening date would be announced and booking lines would open.

Celebrity chef

But she said the opening was unlikely to be on the same scale as the huge fireworks-and-operatics gala concert - starring the Three Tenors - in the city in August 2003, and timed to coincide with the date the spa had been due to open.

The company has already begun recruiting staff - including some who were first employed ahead of the original opening date, and has lined up Michelin-starred chef Martin Blunos to design the menu for its on-site restaurant.

The majority of people are keen to see it open, keen to see it succeed and keen to see it help rejuvenate Bath Councillor Nicole O'Flaherty

And a separate company has plans to turn the former technical college next to the spa into a £25m hotel, making the most of the increased numbers of tourists expected to be drawn to the city's latest attraction.

Councillor Nicole O'Flaherty said: "People have continued to voice their criticisms of the project... as is their right.

"What I have found interesting is that when I have spoken to people directly, the majority are keen to see it open, keen to see it succeed and keen to see it help rejuvenate Bath and the surrounding area."

Bath's thermal springs have been encouraging visitors to the city for centuries, but the last spa - part of an NHS treatment centre - closed on health grounds in 1978.

In 2000, the Millennium Commission gave a grant of £7.78m to refurbish five listed buildings within the complex, including the 18th Century Hot Bath and Cross Bath.

Work on the project began soon afterwards but the scheme was plagued by a series of delays, bitter rows and court battles.

With the new opening date now just weeks away, residents and would-be visitors will be hoping the whole saga will soon be at an end.