Huge exhibition to celebrate Brexit Britain has been scrutinized by a watchdog after spending £120million in taxpayers’ money

A HUGE exhibition to celebrate Brexit Britain is under scrutiny by spending regulators after spending £120m of taxpayers’ money – and spectacularly flopping.

Just 238,000 visitors saw the government’s “unboxed festival” despite the original target of 66 million.

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Now the National Audit Office has agreed to MPs’ calls to investigate the “irresponsible use of public money” and will publish a cost-benefit analysis later this year.

Inspired by the 1951 Festival of Britain, the idea was launched by Theresa May in 2018 to showcase the “creativity of all four nations of the United Kingdom”.

It was quickly dubbed the “Festival of Brexit”, which project director Martin Green acknowledged as “unfortunate”.

But after spectacular tanking, the Commons Culture Committee slammed the “unadulterated shambles” that resulted in a colossal waste of taxpayers’ money.

Tory leader Julian Knight said: “That such an exorbitant amount of public money has been spent on a so-called celebration of creativity, which has barely registered in the public consciousness, raises serious red flags about how the project is managed from conception to completion was for extradition.

“The NAO’s investigation will bring a welcome and thorough scrutiny and help to understand how so much taxpayer money could have been squandered for so little return.”

Auditor General Gareth Davis said his independent panel will examine “management as a program, including accountability and decision-making processes, and planning work, including forecasting attendance.”