Eden Project to stay closed 'until at least 6 January'

The Eden Project is to stay closed until at least 6 January, bosses say.

The attraction, in a clay pit near St Austell in Cornwall, was shut to visitors at the weekend following flooding and landslips.

Heavy rain caused three landslips on the side of the former quarry and damaged the road above it.

Managers had said they would review when to reopen on 26 December, but were extending the closure "after further assessments of the damage to the site".

Work was continuing to pump out excess water and survey the full extent of the damage and required repairs, they added.

A spokesman for Eden said they were "very sorry to disappoint all visitors who had planned to attend over the Christmas and new year period but the safety of visitors and staff remained top priority". 

Ticketholders for days Eden was closed would "automatically be refunded", it said.

The environmental attraction gardens had been open since 3 December, when the county was put into tier one coronavirus restrictions.

The Eden Project, which is built in a disused china clay quarry and first opened in 2001, also suffered serious flooding in 2010.