SOUTHAMPTON will not be playing host to an exhibition about Titanic in October.

Tourism bosses confirmed that the show, which had a convicted paedophile as its main contributor, will not be coming to the city.

But they've denied that the decision not to host the scheme was prompted by revelations that Denis Cochrane, the main contributor to the huge exhibition, is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence after he was jailed for molesting a schoolboy.

The problem lies in making the former Magistrates' Court buildings in the city fit to stage the exhibition.

A city council spokesman said: "We had fruitful negotiations with Titanic Exhibitions with a view to hosting their touring exhibition following its successful run in Bristol.

"However, the extent of the work needed to make the former Magistrates' Court buildings in the Civic Centre complex useable as an exhibition venue, coupled with a very tight deadline, mean that it will not now come to the city in autumn of this year. This is disappointing and we will now be exploring ways of bringing it to Southampton in the future.

"We received assurances from the exhibition organisers that, apart from an initial fee paid to Denis Cochrane before he was convicted, he receives no further financial benefit from the Bristol, or any other, exhibition.

"We would seek to confirm this before we took any firm decision on hosting the exhibition."

The show has just finished a six-week show in Bristol and was due to be staged in Southampton in October.

Last Monday we revealed that Cochrane, 54, was a convicted paedophile.

The former music teacher in a Catholic school was jailed for molesting a vulnerable pupil over a four-year period. He reportedly had a life-long obsession with Titanic and the bedroom of his flat was decked out like the inside of a luxury ship complete with bunks, windows and a porthole window.

Revelations that Cochrane had a conviction prompted the co-founder of the Titanic Society, Brian Ticehurst, to resign in disgust when he discovered the exhibition may come to Southampton.

- Originally published September 2003.