Flood-fearing millionaire finishes ark

A Dutch millionaire has opened the doors of his full-size replica of Noah's Ark to the public.

Johan Huibers spent four years building the ark after dreaming his hometown would be destroyed by a flood of biblical proportions.

Using dimensions set out in the Book of Genesis, the 137m x 21m craft features its own 'Bible museum', complete with life-size plastic animals.

"We wanted to build something that can help explain the Bible in real terms," explained Mr Huibers.

"The wood is Swedish pine, because that's the closest we think to the 'resin wood' God ordered Noah to use in the Bible. The animals are plastic and come from the Philippines."

The project stems from a dream the 52-year-old had in 1992, in which his native Holland was flooded by the North Sea.

"The next day I bought a book about Noah's Ark," he said. "That night while sitting on the couch with my kids, I looked at it and said: "It's what we're going to do"."

Mr Huibers originally wanted to sail his ark, currently moored on the Merwede River, Dordrecht, to the London for the Olympic Games.

However he was forced to abandon that plan after Dutch authorities raised health and safety concerns about the proposed voyage.