Property developer, Clive Farrell, has received planning permission from local authorities to build a £15m transparent butterfly dome in St Albans, Hertfordshire.

The ambitious St Albans site will be 100m-wide, house 250,000 butterflies and should open by the end of 2005.

A new group, called the Butterfly World Charitable Trust, has been formed to run the centre and distribute profits from the centre to other wildlife causes. The trust will include butterfly experts from around the world and will be led by Sir David Bellamy.

It is predicted that the centre, which will be conveniently located near to London, could become one of Britain’s biggest tourist attractions.

The project has already received pledges of both support and cash from many UK conservation organisations.

However, there remains only one possible hitch, the site is on green belt land so the project could be called in by deputy prime minister, John Prescott.