The number of visitors to the Eden Project last year surpassed the one million mark for the first time since 2011.

During 2016 Eden attracted 1,000,363 visitors, a four per cent rise on the previous year, making it the third year in succession that numbers have increased.

This means that nearly 19 million people have visited Eden since it first opened in a former china clay quarry on March 17, 2001. Since then it has contributed more than £1.7 billion to the regional economy.

Eden’s news on visitors follows the announcement earlier this year of a third year of steady financial growth. Accounts for 2015/16 showed that the Project made a cash surplus from trading of £1.8 million in the last financial year.

This month, the Mediterranean Biome is undergoing its biggest-ever transformation with the planting of a new area devoted to some of Australia’s most extraordinary flora.

Eden is collaborating with Kings Park and Botanic Garden in Perth, Western Australia, to recreate the iconic habitats of the south west of the vast state.

This summer, after three years of acclaimed dinosaur-themed programmes during the school holidays, Eden will be blasting off with a major new event called Journey Into Space.