IT has cost £758 million to create and, judging by the total apathy it has already stirred in Bolton, it could become the biggest turkey of all time.

Right from the unveiling of plans for the Millennium Dome in London's Docklands, there has been an outcry that it is a monumental waste of money.

Now, Dome tickets have gone on sale around the country, and, surprisingly, no-one has yet been killed in the rush.

Bolton is probably typical. When stores like Asda, Tesco and Morrisons started selling tickets 100 days away from the Dome's opening by the Queen on Millennium Eve, there were few takers. An individual adult ticket costs £20 although a family ticket for two adults and two children is £57.

By London attraction prices, it's actually good value. But then, at Madam Tussaud's, the dummies are the attraction not the architects.

On a more serious note, spending this kind of money in such a public fashion will inflame many individuals directly affected by a lack of municipal money.

Here in Bolton, parents of children whose local primary is faced with closure may well feel angry at the costs involved in the demi-egg Dome.

And if you are waiting in vain for an NHS operation your reaction to the hype surrounding the Dome could well be total disgust.

To be fair, there may well be thousands of schoolchildren and others in this country who will thoroughly enjoy a visit to Greenwich.

But there are certainly many other ways of marking the Millennium in a more practical fashion, to the greater and longer-lasting good of the general public.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.