The management of the Millennium Dome has won some rare praise from the government's spending watchdog, though opposition politicians have called for an apology over the "fiasco".

The National Audit Office said in a new report released on Wednesday that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and its agencies have finally managed to put together a deal for the sale of the failed tourist attraction that offers the taxpayer value for money.

The venue has been plagued by a string of bad headlines since the project was in its planning stages.

Having failed to attract its targeted number of visitors in 2000, despite the support of hundreds of millions of pounds of lottery money, it has also struggled to find a suitable buyer since.

Last month regeneration minister Lord Rooker revealed that it is costing the taxpayer £189,000 per month to maintain the site in North Greenwich.

However the NAO pronounced that the deal to sell the Dome and its surrounding land to entertainment group Meridian Delta, which has been under negotiation since 2001, is good for the government.

It said the plans to build 10,000 new houses, as well as offices, research and industry buildings, will help regenerate the area and that the taxpayer would recoup £216 million in real terms over the course of the deal.

White elephant

The Conservatives seized the opportunity to criticise ministers who backed the Capital's "great white elephant".

Shadow London minister Mark Field said the building "stands as a monument to Labour's incompetence in building, running and now selling of the failed project".

"The tax payer has had to pick up the bill for mothballing the Dome for four years at a cost of £28.7 million," he said.

"The £362.7 million of tax payers' money that this government has wasted is enough to put 12,544 extra police officers on our streets.

"The government must ensure that regeneration continues around the Dome to ensure that the community does not suffer from Labour's failures."

Liberal Democrat spokesman Sarah Teather said both Tories and Labour had shown "incompetence and ineptitude" in backing the project.

"Millions of pounds of taxpayer's money have been thrown away on a project that failed to provide any positive lasting legacy for London's East End," she said.

"Ministers had a big idea with no long term plan or vision which means the whole thing has been a whopping waste of money.

"Both the Tories, for coming up with the idea of the Dome, and Labour, for following it through, owe a big apology to the Capital for an expensive empty tent."

Difficult circumstances

However, the NAO indicated that the latest bid to find a lasting role for the Dome is set to have a positive outcome.

The report contrasted the latest successful sale with the previous "too complicated" attempt to dispose of the Dome.

"In difficult circumstances following the failure of the first competition, English Partnerships and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have worked hard to get a deal," auditor general Sir John Bourn said.

"There are risks still to be managed but local residents, and indeed the taxpayer, stand to benefit from it."