Work on the latest project to restore the Spa began in September 2000

The opening date is now likely to be the end of May - but each week that passes in delay costs the local council �30,000.

The Spa complex was meant to open by early April but will now miss the start of Bath's tourist season.

Nicole O'Flaherty, of Bath and North East Somerset's Council, says the spa is a "complicated project on a large scale", and that it is essential the builders get it right.

We can't take firm bookings on the strength of it opening at the moment Bath Hotelier

"What we want more than anything is that when it is finished it looks good and has a 'wow' factor.

"Projects like this are not straightforward: any builder has a challenge with them," she added.

The project is being funded by the council and the Millennium Commission - which provided a grant of �7.78m - with Dutch company Thermae Bath Spa employed as operator.

Peter Rollins of Thermae Bath Spa said: "This is disappointing and very frustrating for everyone involved.

"It is going to be longer and longer now until money starts to come in: it is costing us a penny or two."

Natural springs

One hotelier told the BBC: "We can't take firm bookings on the strength of it opening at the moment.

"That is disappointing."

Work on this latest project to restore the Spa began in September 2000, and was expected to last two years.

Nobody has been able to use the baths since the NHS closed its treatment centre in 1978 - even though the city was founded on the natural springs thousands of years ago.