The Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI), closed in 1999 for refurbishment, will never re-open.

The British Film Institute (BFI), which operated the museum, has announced that it no longer intends to recreate MOMI.

Instead, a statement claims: 'We will provide a range of changing exhibition areas in the Centre which will display both our 2D and 3D collections.'

When the museum was closed, the BFI claimed - in a statement which is still posted on its website - 'The museum building has closed on its current site as we are now planning a bigger and better museum, which will be constructed as part of a new BFI film centre. It is planned that the new museum - which will be about half as big again as the existing one - will open around 2006.'

The BFI has offered no explanation for its decision not to recreate MOMI as a separate paying attraction.

The £15m museum, which opened in 1988, was one of the South Bank's most popular museums, displaying a vast collection of film memorabilia - including a dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot - and offering interactive experiences such as allowing visitors to fly over London like Superman, read the news and be interviewed by Barry Norman. Details: www.bfi.org.uk