The long-awaited unveiling of Brighton Dome's famous organ has been postponed because its restoration is not yet finished.

More than 1,250 tickets have been sold for Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra's (BPO) opening concert where the newly restored organ was to be played for the first time since the Seventies.

But the BPO has had to drop the organ symphony by Saint-Saens from its September 28 programme.

Thousands of people are being given the chance to swap their tickets so they can see the organ in action next year.

The Norman, Hill & Beard organ was installed in the Dome in 1936 and became famous in the Forties, Fifties and Sixties through Douglas Reeve's BBC Light Programme broadcasts and his twice-weekly summer concerts.

His weekly Tuesday Night At The Dome variety shows made the Guinness Book of Records as the longest-running seaside variety show in the world.

However, by the Seventies musical fashions had changed and the vogue for organ concerts was waning. The organ also fell into disrepair.

In 1999, a £20 million restoration project of the Dome began but it was announced there were no public funds to repair the organ.

A public appeal, called the Douglas Reeve Memorial Appeal, in memory of the organist who died that year, was launched to raise the £350,000 needed to save the organ.

And after the campaign, backed by The Argus, there was a turnaround and the crumbling instrument was included in the scheme.

Since then, there have been other hiccups along the way.

The orchestra was stopped from performing the first concert after the Dome's £22 million refurbishment last year because the venue failed a fire safety test.

Then the Dome was closed for six weeks last summer, just four months after its reopening, mainly to reinstate the organ.

The refurbishment is being carried out by David Wells Organ Builders of Liverpool.

David Wells said: "The organ is probably the most complex in the country.

"Rebuilding it has been a major job and there is just too much to do to get it finished in time.

"It's essential the installation is handled carefully as the work will need to last for many years."

It is hoped the organ will finally be complete in the new year.

The BPO concert will go ahead as planned but with a revised programme.

Principal conductor Barry Wordsworth said they hoped to play the Saint-Saens symphony at their last concert of the winter season, in March.

Ticket holders will be contacted by the Dome box office and the BPO and offered a chance to swap tickets for the March performance.

For more information, call the Dome box office on 01273 700747.