Over £ billion has been squandered on this monstrosity yet needy local charities are denied small Lottery grants GOOD causes in Bolton denied lottery funding are asking: "Why should we struggle while the Dome burns money?"

Cash-strapped charities such as the town's RSPCA branch have never had a penny of National Lottery funding and community groups have seen projects torpedoed by grant rejections.

They have reacted with dismay to this week's £47 million handout to the failing tourist attraction - taking the amount of lottery cash stumped out on the Dome to a staggering £628 million.

Bolton's RSPCA branch, which has an advice centre in St George's Road, has twice had applications turned down.

Branch secretary Kathy Kelly said: "The rules for applications are so strict they are untrue and unless you slot neatly into specified categories you stand no chance.

"The only way we get our cash is from fund-raising and donations and the only way we survive is through legacies, which shouldn't be the case.

"It's a real bone of contention when they give so much to the Dome, the arts and so on and the charities people thought would benefit the most from the lottery miss out."

Bolton Flat Bowls Club is another organisation for which the Lottery's catchphrase "It Could Be You" has a hollow ring.

Members have spent five years working on a lottery bid for new headquarters but admit they are being forced to shelve it.

The 150-member club's application for £300,000 to create two new greens and a pavilion was rejected earlier this year.

But publicity officer John Franklin said members felt an acute sense of injustice as money continues to be thrown at the Dome.

He said: "I can't listen to the news now because it gets on my nerves so much. It's immensely frustrating to see the Dome get so much money when we've been turned down."

The director general of Bolton-based charity Vision Aid - facing closure unless it can raise almost £500,000 - is, however, philosophical about the amount of money lavished on the Dome.

The charity, which has provided vital care for more than 30,000 blind children, will have to shut by Christmas unless the money is found for new premises.

But Lesley Green, who founded the charity in 1984, said because a separate slice of lottery funding has been earmarked for the Dome it did not mean good causes were losing out directly.

"It's not a case of money going to charities like us if it didn't go to the Dome," she said.