The Dome's infamous centrepiece, The Body Zone, is to be dismembered piece by piece when the contents are auctioned off for engineer's fears that it will collapse.

Details were announced today of the disposal of the Dome's contents by auctioneer Henry Butcher. The disposal will occur by private treaty and public auction in an attempt to raise £10m from the beleaguered attraction. Despite concerns that the sale will be met with the lukewarm response that has plagued the Dome, director of Henry Butcher, Derek Sadler, is optimistic: We are obviously delighted to have been selected to work on such a historic project. We will be offering for sale most of the contents and infrastructure that went towards making the Dome such a talked about attraction - it is a genuine opportunity for people to purchase a piece of history.

The inventory includes 5,000 speakers, 320 plasma screens, 140 CCTV cameras and even acrobatic equipment and costumes used in the Dome's Millennium Show. While a number of the 14 themed Zones are owned by their sponsors, the majority are available in part or in their entirety and will be sold at the private treaty stage in January. The public auction will be held at the Dome's Skyscape for four days from 27 February 2001.