WHEN the Tales of Robin Hood closed its doors in January 2009 there was serious concern that the city was not doing enough to promote its most famous son.

Statues and costumes were salvaged and given to the Galleries of Justice – but the city was left with no major attraction dedicated to the outlaw.

In 2009, Nottingham City Council created the Sheriff's Commission to identify how to maximise the tourism potential of Robin Hood. A delegation from the city spent nine days in America, visiting up to 30 attractions.

The commission concluded that a new Robin Hood attraction was needed at both Nottingham Castle and Sherwood Forest by June 2012 – to make the most of Olympics tourism.

But today the Post can reveal this will not happen.

A vision for an attraction at the castle is expected to be released in a couple of months but it will be several years before it is developed.

Notts County Council has pledged to have the new visitors centre at Sherwood Forest in operation by 2014.

It is not all doom and gloom. Both the Galleries of Justice and the castle have opened insightful Robin Hood exhibitions in the past 18 months.

A Robin Hood Trail is also in place, allowing visitors to walk to 12 signposted sites.

But the planned permanent Robin Hood attraction at the castle – which would have included the wider Nottingham story – is far from fruition.

Galleries of Justice chief executive Tim Desmond said their exhibition, while very popular and successful, was put together by Nottingham Trent students on a "minimal budget". He welcomes the idea of a Robin Hood attraction at the castle.

He said: "There's a gap in the market and we're trying in part to fill it because people want to experience the Robin Hood legend when they come to Nottingham."

The job of delivering the new attraction has been handed over to the Castle Working Group. It is taking up where the Sheriff's Commission left off and its chairman, Ted Cantle, said it was planning to unveil a vision for the castle attraction in the next couple of months.

"There's no chance of the whole scheme being delivered by next June," he said. "That doesn't mean we can't start the process.

"Once we get the vision agreed, it will take several years to implement any scheme in full but there may be elements of it which can be delivered more quickly."

It is unclear how a new attraction would be funded. But Mr Cantle is determined to make it happen.

"We hope to establish a number of partners," he said.

Hugh White, director for sport, culture and parks at the city council, said the economy was the reason it had not got plans in place for an attraction. "Where we were 18 months ago to where we are now is very different economically," he said. "The scale of ambition doesn't reduce but the timescale of delivery needs to adjust. It doesn't lessen the momentum."

The Sheriff of Nottingham, Councillor Leon Unczur, said: "Things have overtaken us, like a world financial crisis, which means people – bankers, private investors – are not willing to support things like they used to.

"But actually, we never said the main attraction would be in place by 2012, and we are still reasonably on target, because this was the date we said we would have a firmer idea of what the attraction would be and have the plans and contacts in place.

"So far as cashing in on the Olympics is concerned, most people who visit during the Games will be corporate associates of the athletes, so we are not missing out by not having an attraction in place by then. I think it's important to make sure what we end up with is good, rather than rushing things."

He rejected claims by Conservative councillor Roger Steel that the commission was a "damp squib". He said: "I still think the trip to America was valid – it's not just about seeing the attractions but meeting the people who make them work and learning how to implement infrastructure.''