Morecambe’s Eden Project North funding decision which was expected by the end of the year has been delayed again

Morecambe will now have to wait until the new year for the announcement, which Lancaster City Council confirmed saying: “We’ve been told that the announcement will now take place by the end of January.”

The government says it's delaying announcements to "allocate additional funding".

The news comes just two weeks after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed that a decision on government funding for Eden Project North would be made by the end of 2022.

Morecambe MP David Morris raised the funding bid at Prime Ministers’ Questions.

Mr Morris said during the session: “Eden Project North is now getting right to the end of the process. It has gone through right to round 2 of the levelling-up fund, it has planning permission, it has land allocation, and it has everything that it is going to offer to the north of England. Prime Minister, when are we going to get Eden Project North?”

In response, Mr Sunak said: “I think the whole House knows that my hon. Friend has been a passionate campaigner for Eden Project North for some time.

"I was pleased to work with him in my previous role. He knows I cannot comment on any specific bid, but I know that the Secretary of State will be making those decisions by the end of the year, and I wish my hon. Friend, and everyone involved in the project, every success.

Mr Morris said: “As we near the end of the decision-making process for the Levelling Up Round 2 funding, I wanted to make sure Eden Project North was on the top of the Government agenda.

"We have a fantastic project, with regional, not just local, impact and a strong business case and I have no doubt we will be successful in securing Government investment when this funding is announced shortly. Watch this space.”

Morecambe’s MP David Morris was contacted and said he had received communication from the Levelling Up Minister to say that the fund has received an uplift from 1.7 billion to 2.1 billion and as a result the announcement will now be made before the end of January.