Cathedral leaders have admitted for the first time that the multi-million pound Life Force Millennium project was doomed from the start.

Senior church figures have now launched a bid to turn the faith visitor attraction flop into a volunteer centre.

But Bradford Cathedral, the main driving force behind the Lottery-funded £5m Life Force project, has owned up to unrealistic and unworkable expectations.

The Reverend Canon Derek Jackson, pictured, acting dean at Bradford Cathedral and now leading the revival, admitted the initial target of attracting 770 visitors a week was too ambitious and vowed Life Force's replacement would deal with "real reality, not virtual reality".

Existing Government-funded volunteer groups working in Bradford have already been asked to move into St Peter's House, opposite the Cathedral, and it is planned to use their state grants to cover the costs.

But it is the acceptance that the millions spent on Life Force were wasted that will help appease critics of the scheme who privately argued that the money would have been better spent on other parts of Bradford.

Life Force opened in a blaze of glory in July last year, touted as the successor to the Faith Zone at the Greenwich Millennium Dome and charged with the lofty task of increasing understanding between different cultures.

But by February this year the two companies running the project, St Peter's House Trading Ltd and St Peter's House Bradford Ltd, had gone into liquidation after seven months of disastrous visitor figures.

"We had to see that Life Force as such didn't have a future in the way it opened last July," said Canon Jackson, adding candidly: "The visitor attraction philosophy wasn't working.

"There was some doubt as to whether the sorts of visitor numbers that were discussed at the outset were realistic.

"But we are not unique among Millennium projects for failing for that reason and the Millennium Commission wanted to make possible things that were not possible otherwise."

A spokesman for the Millennium Commission, whose board is due to consider the Cathedral's proposals next month, rejected any suggestion that it had been too eager to back doubtful schemes.

She said: "What the Commission has always tried to do is distribute Lottery money to the whole of the UK.

"For every project we funded ten were not, which meant there was always strong competition, the Life Force project had to be robust to get funding.

"At the same time, the Commission took some measured risks in order to make sure Lottery money was reaching everywhere."

One of Life Force's original critics, entrepreneur and Bradford Chamber of Commerce president John Pennington, doubted the viability of the new plans for St Peter's House.

He said: "I'm still sceptical, one of the problems that still exists is where everyone is going to park.

"The whole Life Force project was flawed, even down to the front door - there wasn't one, it was at the side.

"They seemed to think its customer base was going to come out of thin air."

Manoj Joshi, member of the Life Force board of directors until December last year, insisted the basis of the project had been realistic.

He said: "It was a workable idea, 100 per cent. The targets were realistic."

But he added: "No one is talking about the real issues, that is the problem.

"There was personal conflict and it needed a lot of marketing to support it, more equipment and refurbishing."

Backed by the bitter experiences of failure, of which he was never part, Canon Jackson is determined to ensure the new venture focuses on people in Bradford.

He said: "Life Force existed in the virtual reality of exhibitions, we will be dealing with the real reality of bringing people together that is consistent with the sort of ideas expressed in the report by Lord Ouseley.

"The report spoke of a centre for diversity with organisations that are working together and in partnership with the Cathedral, we can make a big contribution towards that."