Queues and confusion are continuing to dog the Millennium Dome despite the introduction by the organisers of a new system to minimise congestion.

At times on Saturday visitors faced lines hundreds of yards long and a wait of up to an hour to enter the popular Body Zone.

Special computer screens designed to show waiting times for each area had to be reprogrammed after describing the Body Zone as "quiet" despite the hour-long wait.

At one point, staff struggled to manage the queue for the Body Zone which had been designed so it crossed the main thoroughfare which surrounds the central arena.

But visitors interviewed by the BBC said they were resigned to the queues.

One girl said: "We have been queueing for about an hour but it is moving quickly and there is plenty to look at while you are waiting."

The staff held their arms outstretched to halt pedestrian traffic as the queue moved across, causing tailbacks of visitors, pushchairs and wheelchairs.

But later the Dome appeared quiet, with only the Body Zone showing signs of a substantial queue - other zones, such as Money, Faith and Shared Ground, were relatively empty.

Managers had introduced a new system for the Body Zone queue, snaking the long line through an interactive display area next to the two massive human figures.

'Look while you wait'

In a further attempt to reduce long queues, the Body Zone opened half an hour before the rest of the £758 million Dome but staff struggled to keep visitors from straying into other parts of the attraction which were still closed.

"We're taking people through the Body Explore exhibit, the first part of the Zone, so they have something to look at while they wait.

"Our new queue route definitely works better," said Dome area manager Martin Harvey.

Meanwhile, opposition politicians are continuing to attack the government over problems affecting the attraction.

Shadow culture secretary Peter Ainsworth predicted the Dome was heading for a "financial crisis before the end of the year".

Tight-lipped about numbers

Liberal Democrat Dome spokesman Norman Baker said he would be demanding a Commons statement from Culture Secretary Chris Smith next week to explain what had gone wrong with the Dome opening.

New Millennium Experience Company spokeswoman Rachel Faulkner said attendance figures would not be released until the end of the month, but added the number of visitors today was below the building's 25,000 capacity.

"We are very pleased with how ticket sales have gone," she said.

One visitor, Mike Male, from Penzance, Cornwall, waited 45 minutes for a 15-minute tour of the Body Zone and five minutes for Home Planet.

He said: "I thought it would be packed but the place isn't crowded at all - I think a lot of people have been frightened off by talk of long queues."