Dome catering kit under the gavel

Millennium Dome bosses are hoping to make £500,000 from next week's sale of catering equipment used at the Dome.

The sale includes everything used in the hospitality suites at the venue, from combi-ovens to cutlery to fake display magnums of champagne. The catering sale is part of a larger auction which will happen at the Skyscape building which housed a cinema alongside the Dome. The catering part of the sale takes place on Wednesday (28 February).

Included will be 2,500 place settings, although catering liaison manager Brian Kirker was less than complimentary about the quality of the plates.

"We can't pile them up too high on top of one another," he said, "they just crack under their own weight. Not the best quality, really."

Nevertheless, Dome managers are clearly hoping that some of the equipment will attract bids from caterers. Estimates of the total to be made from the catering equipment range from £300,000 to £500,000.