The Eden Project has slammed claims in the national press that the attraction has lost £4m in the past year due to a slump in visitor numbers.

The management team has said the reports failed to take into account the attraction’s annual depreciation policy – without which it would have made a profit – and the fact that it still boasts more than twice the number of visitors predicted.

Finance director Peter Cox said: “As a not for profit charity, Eden is not about profit maximisation; we are continuing to invest in building for the future and managing our accounts in a sound a realistic manner. We have a prudent depreciation policy through which an annual charge of £6.5m is deducted.”

Director of communications, Bryher Scudamore, said: “Eden is still attracting more than double the visitors it originally planned for and every year Eden brings new and innovative ideas to a huge range of visitors in from Cornwall and beyond.

“Thirty-five per cent of visitors to Cornwall this year came to visit us and since opening we have contributed more than £500m to the region’s economy.”

Reports of the supposed financial loss came from Eden’s annual accounts, filed with Companies House.

The Eden Project opened in March 2001 and has received a total of £55.4m in Lottery funding through the Millennium Commission.