IF you felt Worcester's ill-fated Millennium riverside Quayhead project still had a saga or two in store, you won't be surprised at today's latest news.

The launch of the controversial fountain scheme may yet be delayed after vandals broke into its control box and set it running without water.

We hope it isn't.

For those of you with long memories, that may seem like something of an about-turn for this column.

It's true that, since the city won £100,000 of Lottery funding for the bold, symbolic gully which artist Thomas Heatherwick was planning to cut into the quayside, it has caused us doubt and bewilderment.

There were many who either didn't like the scheme, or didn't understand it.

But we felt that - after years of talk about tackling the ghastly Copenhagen Street car park - we'd finally be able to boast of something that said Worcester was "confident" about its future, as well as its past.

When Heatherwick's scheme was ditched, we dubbed its replacement as "glorified block-paving" that didn't say "Millennium" any more than it said "Worcester in control of its wishes". So why the change of heart?

Millennium cash has paid for the piazza but, in our book, any project which didn't grace the year 2000 loses the shine that link would have brought.

Instead, we should take it for what it is, something which softens its landscape.

Having battled through so many setbacks, if it brings a sparkle to the city, it also deserves to become a symbol of hope and resilience. And that wouldn't go amiss.