Spirit zone revived

HELP materialised yesterday for the controversial Spirit Zone in the Millennium Dome.

It had been feared that the zone - reflecting all Britain's religious faiths but stressing "the dominance of Christianity" - might be missing, even though the millennium signifies the anniversary of the birth of Christ. But the New Millennium Experience Company, the organisers of the Greenwich Dome in south-east London, announced that this part of the project is "off the critical list".

"A number of organisations got in touch with us out of the blue," a spokesman for the company said, "and we have had positive discussions with them." The spokesman said the saviours of the zone could not be identified until contracts were signed, and pounds 6m of funding realised.

Plans for religious gardens for the zone would be scrapped. New ideas included a map of Britain's "faith landscape", showing the make-up of different faiths across the UK.