SOUTHAMPTON is to get a £4.6m heritage centre based around the sinking of Titanic, the Daily Echo can reveal.

City chiefs want the attraction to be ready before 2012, the centenary of the ill-fated liner's tragic demise.

Experts believe the museum would help the city find the Wow factor, bringing in 100,000 visitors and making almost a quarter of a million pounds every year.

The idea has been welcomed by tourist bosses, historians and even a survivor of the disaster.

>Read the full story on our special Titanic website www.thisistitanic.co.uk