THERE'S SOMETHING VERY FISHY ABOUT THIS - COST OF ANOTHER CULTURE COMPANY COCK-UP

THE cost of the Culture Company's doomed Paul McCartney concert at Salthouse Dock will be at least £250,000.

That's the astonishing bill so far for 15 months worth of feasibility studies on the lunatic project.

We under-estimated the true cost in an earlier post - by the summer the preliminary costs had already risen to mpore than £150,000.

When all the final invoices are in, the total bill will be at least a quarter of a million quid.

The Culture Company spent the money on investigating whether the concert could ever happen - before they finally switched it to Anfield after reluctantly accepting that the scheme was bonkers.

They had wanted to drain the dock, stun the fishy inhabitants, put them in a giant tank and then erect 25,000 seats in the dock so that Macca could play on the river front.

Alert readers will remember The Echo and Daily Post praising the Culture Company for switching the gig to Anfield - and not cancelling it at the last minute, a la Mathew Street.

Both papers apparently thought this was triumph of sound management.

Just a pity that wiser heads had not prevailed at the Culture Company or the BBC, 15 months earlier then, isn't it?

If they had, a lot of people's time would not have been wasted. And a lot of money saved for something slightly more practical. (Like more police for Croxteth, for example, eds?)

The Culture Company feasibility study included hiring marine experts to make sure the fishy inhabitants of the dock would be okay, employing divers to take the plunge in the dock to inspect it, and sinking concrete bore holes in the dock basin to try and make sure that it would hold 25,000 seats and a rock stage.

All of this - and more - which involved an army of consultants, went on and on and on, before the plug was finally pulled on the plan.

Now of course, council taxpayers are being left to pick up the tab.