Half a million pounds of lottery money has been given to develop a new Titanic memorial in Southampton.

A new museum charting the story of the ill-fated liner could be built in the southern English city in time for the 100th anniversary of the sinking in 2012.

The £28m project in Southampton, from where the liner set sail in 1912 on her maiden voyage, is set to feature a climb-aboard replica of the ship.

But the announcement yesterday has met with anger in Belfast after a similar commemorative project had been turned down for lottery funding.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded almost £500,000 in |development funding to the Southampton project, with the potential for a further £4.5m towards construction.

The story of the disaster — when the ship hit an iceberg causing the loss of 1,523 lives — and the finding of the wreck will be part of the exhibition.

About 4,000 items from the ship are also set to be displayed within galleries.

Plans are currently under way to build a Titanic Signature Project in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast.

Initially the building was one of three local projects which were in the running for funding from the Big Lottery Fund just two years ago.

The public/private project was to be at the centre of the redevelopment of the Titanic Quarter, promoting the city's maritime history.

“Over two-thirds of funding for the project had already been pledged by the Government and other funders, but it failed to reach the final funding shortlist for the Lottery's Living Landmarks Fund in October 2007.

The Executive has since agreed to provide half the funding with a range of other agencies, including Belfast City Council, the Harbour Commissioners and Titanic Charitable Foundation also contributing.

Former Belfast Lord Mayor Jim Rodgers said it was disappointing that the Belfast project had not |received lottery money, while the Southampton project had been selected.

“It is disappointing to hear that money will be going to another project,” he said.

“People seem to forget that |Titanic was built in our shipyards at Harland and Wolff.

“A lot of other cities around the world have claimed Titanic in some way.

“Ultimately, we have been very slow to catch up and that’s something we need to look at very closely.”

Mr Rodgers added: “It does concern me that even though the money has come out of another lottery pot that our project did not get anything.”