The sale will be thrown open to all bidders interested in acquiring the 300-acre site on the Greenwich peninsula, together with its £260m dome.

The sale is expected to be completed by the spring of next year, nine months before the Millennium Exhibition closes its doors.

Copies of the draft sales brochure, with a message from Prime Minister Tony Blair, are already circulating in the corridors of Westminster.

A spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said the Dome would not necessarily be sold to the highest bidder.

"We want to find an appropriate future use for the dome, and one that takes into account the requirements of the people of Greenwich." he said.

The government will publish its criteria for the bids it will consider, along with a timetable for the sale, ending in April, 2000.

Dome: one careful owner

English Partnerships, the government agency which owns the land on which the dome is built, have said they are determined that its future use fits in with the long-term regeneration of the Greenwich peninsula.

Two weeks ago, EP's projects Director David Sheldon told the Commons Culture Committee that possible future uses were leisure, sport, conventions or conferences or it could be kept as exhibition space.

"Having the dome as a retail site would not be appropriate, nor would it be appropriate to use it for pop concerts twice a week or for anything too trivial", he said.

Earlier this week Culture Secretary Chris Smith insisted the dome should be preserved as "a landmark and symbol for many generations to come".

"It's becoming an icon. It's becoming a building by which the world is coming to know Britain by," he said.