The visitors' centre at the iconic Giant's Causeway is set to finally go ahead following a £3m lottery grand.

Construction is due to begin shortly at the Co Antrim landmark, after years of delays and wrangling over the plans.

The cash injection, from the Heritage Lottery Fund, will go towards an £18.5m revamp of facilities at the site, included the much-mooted visitors’ centre.

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Paths around the site will also be improved.

The National Trust, which looks after the site, said the funding was a "landmark announcement" and measures would be taken to "conserve and protect" the coastline.

The lottery grant will be added to funding from the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. A further £4m will come from the National Trust itself, with another £2.25m targeted from the Trust's "A Giant Cause" charity campaign.

The visitors' centre, which will be hidden from the coastal landscape by a grass roof, is to be designed by Dublin architects, Heneghan Peng. It will replace the original that burnt down in 2000 is expected to be completed by 2012.

One of Ireland’s most popular tourist attractions, the Giant's Causeway is also a World Heritage Site.

(NS/BMcc)