THE launch of a £500,000 work of art set to mark the countdown to the Olympics has been delayed until at least March, the Liverpool Daily Post can reveal.

Anthony McCall’s spiralling column of steam and light at Wirral Waters – expected to be visible for up to 100km – was initially set to be launched on New Year’s Eve, as a focal point for the North West’s Olympic involvement.

It was to be the first in a series of 12 commissioned art works, known as the Cultural Olympiad, in the regions of Britain. But a planning application for the corkscrew column was only put before Wirral council in late October.

Despite hopes for a New Year launch, the application has not yet been reviewed or recommended for approval by officers.

Last night, Projected Columns, the organisation working on the scheme on behalf of the Arts Council, said that March had been the intended date for some months.

Programme director Tanya Bryan said initial hopes of a New Year’s Eve launch had ended when planned funding for the event was pulled by Locog (the organising committee of the Olympic Games).

She refuted claims that the art work was delayed because the planning application was submitted too late. Mr McCall’s column of light, generated by a machine under the water at the disused Birkenhead docks, will appear as a white line against blue skies or a dark line against overcast skies.