Coronavirus: Eden Project to cut more than 200 jobs

Up to 40% of staff at the Eden Project face losing their jobs because of coronavirus, managers have said.

Bosses of the Cornwall attraction said continuing restrictions on visitor numbers meant it had lost more than £7m this financial year.

Post-lockdown cuts were "sadly inevitable", they said, adding that up to 220 people were "likely to leave".

A six-week consultation and restructuring "across all areas and levels" has begun, they said.

The Eden Project opened in a former clay quarry near St Austell in 2001.

Managers said they estimated the equivalent of about 150 full-time jobs would be lost out of a current total of 375 full-time equivalent posts.

According to its website, it has about 400 core staff, some 200 seasonal employees and about 150 volunteers.

It said it "would provide the fullest support in whatever ways it can to those employees whose jobs are at risk".

The mayor of St Austell, Tim Styles, said that "to lose this many people in one go is a very, very dark day for us".

He said: "Maybe next year, things start to pick up and, hopefully, those jobs will be re-advertised.

"But, at the moment, it is an absolutely terrible, terrible situation."

The venue had already announced the cancellation of its annual concert series - the Eden Sessions - as a result of coronavirus.

Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, and My Chemical Romance were amongst artists due to perform.