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Silverstone £20m museum delay as building firm collapses

BBC Silverstone ExperienceBBC
The Silverstone Experience is housed in a former World War Two aircraft hangar

A new £20m museum dedicated to motorsport has delayed its opening after their building contractors went into administration.

The Silverstone Experience was due to open ahead of the British Grand Prix in July, at the Northamptonshire circuit.

But the Shaylor Group called in the administrators on Monday due to "severe" cash flow problems.

In a statement the museum said it was "very disappointed" and would not open before September.

It apologised and added the "project will still go ahead but this development will inevitably cause some delay".

Silverstone Experience
The museum will include a model of the original circuit design on the ceiling

Sally Reynolds, CEO of the Silverstone Experience, had previously said they had been working on the attraction since 2011, with funding secured for the site in 2016.

The Heritage Lottery Fund provided about half of that money, while South Northamptonshire Council loaned the museum £3m.

Prince Harry visited the site last year and is Royal patron of the museum.

The Shaylor Group, which is based in Walsall, ceased trading on 14 June and 200 staff were made redundant.

Raj Mittal, from administrators FRP Advisory in Birmingham, said: "We will be working closely with clients to ensure the smooth transfer of sites."

The Silverstone Experience apologised and said anyone who had bought tickets will be contacted by email.

Racing driver suit
Many of the displays, like Martin Brundle's Benton race suit, were already in the museum