Eric Knowles is a ceramics expert on the Antiques Roadshow

The Ceramica exhibition in Burslem welcomed its first visitors in April after a long struggle to get the project off the ground.

The �3m attraction, originally intended to mark the start of the millennium, celebrates the city's world-famous pottery industry.

Eric Knowles, the ceramics expert on the BBC's Antiques Roadshow programme, performed the opening ceremony.

Visitors 'surprised'

Ceramica is housed in two buildings, with the exhibitions located in Burslem's old town hall and the shop in a futuristic, glass construction next door to the Victorian building in the Market Place.

Ian Howe, the museum's general manager, said that, despite the delay in opening the attraction, there has been some positive feedback.

"The original concept was way back in the mid-90s, about 1996.

"We had funding problems which delayed it from its original opening around the time of the Millennium, so it's great to have got here.

"Nearly everyone who's come is surprised, I think, at what they find.

"The town hall is quite a big block of a building and you can't tell particularly from the outside what's in there... so we've had some very nice comments."

The opening ceremony took place on Tuesday at 1100 BST.