Harrods’ owner Mohamed Al Fayed has commissioned a feasibility study on plans to build a £10m oil rig visitor centre to be moored in the Cromarty Firth, Scotland.

For several years Al Fayed has been working with staff at his Balnagown Estate in Easter Ross, Scotland, on the proposed tourist attraction – the first of its kind in Britain – alongside the Ross and Cromarty Enterprise, the Cromarty Firth Port Authority and the Highland Council.

The oil rig will feature a visitor center showing how people live and work on oilrigs, a conference centre and a museum on the naval history of the burgh of Invergordon, located on the Cromarty Firth, as well as a 50-room hotel with restaurant and bar.

Gordon Robertson, general manager of Balnagown Estate, has said that the oilrig’s restaurant and bar will be open to day visitors as well as hotel residents. The hotel will also cater for wedding ceremonies and international conferences.

The concept is to build a complex with a unique location, offering panoramic views of the ocean and marine life.

The complex may be moored to a jetty, avoiding the need for a boat or a costly helicopter trip, but will feature a helicopter pad.

According to Robertson, it is unlikely that the platform will be available until 2008, permitting an anticipated 2010 opening. Details of the two oil companies that have offered their platforms have not yet been disclosed.

Al Fayed took over Falls of Shin visitor centre in central Sutherland in 2002 and turned it into the only Harrods outlet in Scotland. It has since become the largest visitor centre in the north and now attracts around 250,000 visitors a year. Details: www.balnagown-estates.co.uk