The exhibition celebrates the pottery industry

The Ceramica project was due to open in Staffordshire at the beginning of last year but was held back due to cash problems.

Organisers have now announced it will open at Easter.

The project has attracted �1.5m from the lottery and funding from Stoke-on-Trent City Council.

Project halted

The upstairs part of the attraction deals with the past, present and future of the ceramic industry.

It will feature details of the life and work of novelist Arnold Bennett, whose books include Anna of the Five Towns which is based in the Potteries.

Visitors will see how modern china is designed and produced in a series of displays.

The downstairs part of the exhibition will feature Bizarreland - an interactive zone for children of all ages who will see where clay comes from and how it is transformed into ceramics.

General manager, Ian Howe, had said he was hoping to attract 20,000 visitors a year to the exhibition.

The project was halted after members of Stoke-on-Trent City Council had to decide whether they wanted to invest cash into the project.