TOURISM CHIEFS are cock-a-hoop at the success of Newcastle's new millennium attraction which is proving more popular than its London counterpart, with hundreds having paid a visit this year.

Situated at the bottom of the Bigg Market, the Dome cost a fraction of the price of the controversial one on the Thames, which is in danger of going down the pan.

74-year old Ronnie Throatseed has been every day since it opened, and often spends hours marveling at the sights.

"I'm absolutely potty about the place," he says. "When I come down here it's like a breath of fresh air."

The main exhibit is an impressive work by Armitage Shanks in pure porcelain, which takes up much of the vast interior. This features a water cascade twice a day, which sets the cigarette ends, phlegm and other curiosities in motion.

There are a number of other smaller 'zones' with individual works by the great Adamsez, also in porcelain. These have proved particularly popular with the public, many of whom have been prepared to double up inside them rather than queue outside.

The council have been quick to poo-poo rumours that an entrance charge is to be introduced. They tried to pass a motion, but agreed the public wouldn't take such a thing sitting down.

· Scottish & Newcastle Breweries have denied they are to sponsor a millennium wheel similar to the British Airways Eye in London. "We have no plans for a Newcastle Brown Eye," someone said.