The Millennium Dome pulled in 6.5m visitors last year, according to figures released on Wednesday.

This is only just over half the original target of 12m, but organisers have defended the beleaguered Greenwich attraction, saying it was still the most popular in the country.

The unaudited figures have been released by the New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC) three days after the Dome closed its doors for the last time on New Year's Eve.

They come as no surprise, as the 6.5m total had already been well documented in the media.

The total fell short of the 6.8 million people who attended Blackpool Pleasure Beach, but there admission is free and visitors pay only for individual rides.

Just days ago, Dome boss Pierre-Yves Gerbeau said he wished he could "rewind the clock, invent a time machine and kill" the 12m forecast.

"We have done 6.5m, it's the second best visitor attraction in Europe behind Disney," he said.

Not all gloom: Many people did flock to visit the dome

A breakdown of the figures show that December was the attraction's busiest month, with 737,300 people flocking to see the attraction before it closed.

Previous highs had been recorded in October, when 657,624 people visited, and in July, when 606,519 people came.

The total visitor numbers of 6,517,000 included more than one million non-paying visitors, most of whom were children on school trips.

A NMEC spokesman said the figures confirmed the dome's place as "the most popular visitor attraction in the UK in the year 2000".

The second-ranking pay-to-visit attraction had been Alton Towers theme park in Staffordshire, which had 2.5m visitors, he said.

Tourism boost

"In all, visitors to the dome spent just over �400m on travel, accommodation and food and drink outside the dome.

"That was a boost of �400m for the UK tourism industry, on top of spending inside the dome."

More than 750,000 Dome visitors had been foreign tourists visiting Britain, the spokesman added.

By the end of January, the original visitor forecast of 12m had been dropped to 10m, and was revised again in May to 6m paying visitors.

A financial forecast in September had cut the target again to 6m visitors in total, to include 4.6m paying visitors.

Furore over future

The shortfall in visitor income had forced dome bosses to ask for extra National Lottery cash during the year, the spokesman said.

Current forecasts showed the final cost of the project would be �801m, instead of the �758 m forecast in 1997.

As the visitor figures were released, the controversy over the future of the Dome continued.

The former owner of the Dome site, British Gas, could call for an independent valuation of the land, it was reported.

The company sold the land to the government in 1997 on condition that it received 7.5% of the proceeds when the site was sold after the attraction closed.

The Legacy consortium has offered �125m to buy Dome and convert it into a business park.

Alton Towers: Second most popular attraction

But according to the Daily Telegraph, Lattice Properties, the development arm of British Gas, believes the site could be worth up to twice as much and is considering exercising its right to call for an independent valuation.

Mr Gerbeau is involved in a �150m bid to keep the site open as a visitor attraction next year.

The Legacy consortium has been chosen as the government's preferred bidder for buying the Dome.

But Mr Gerbeau told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he would remain interested in taking over the troubled attraction until the contents had been sold.

"I was approached two to three months ago to run a consortium," he said.

"We have put a bid in, it is not for me to say (what will happen).

"We are very serious people. We are still interested for a little while. Obviously if the contents go away we will not be."