Bristol City Council has spent £100,000 on consultants to decide what to call the much-delayed Museum of Bristol – and come up with the original name of the building it will be housed in.

The project, which is likely to end up costing almost three times than was originally estimated, will be called M Shed, after a decision was made behind closed doors without any input from Bristolians.

The name was chosen by Manchester consultants True North, hired by the council to re-brand the museum ahead of its planned launch in spring 2011.

The Evening Post understands they were paid £100,000 to come up with the name, which is what the original 1950s transit shed the museum will be housed in was called.

The state-of-the-art museum is being built in the landmark 1950s transit sheds that were home to the former Industrial Museum, near Prince Street Bridge.

Back in 2002 it was supposed to have cost £10m and be completed this year, but has been plagued by delays and financial problems.

The Post has uncovered a list of problems with the scheme, only one of which the authority denies.

The council is insisting it will still cost £26.5M, even though an internal council document from May shows it will cost three million pounds more than that - they claim the £29.6m listed was a 'misprint'..

The undisputed points include:

- The council had to pay out £600,000 in late 2007 because of a failure to issue a letter of intent to the contractor, which meant all packages had to re-tendered. This is confirmed in a cabinet document dated November 2007.

- Staff at other museums in the city face redundancy because of the project's rising costs.

- The museum's £2.3m fundraising drive to private and voluntary organisations has only raised £217,500 so far.

- The council has yet to create a development trust for the project, which would help with fundraising, and three people who have been approached by the authority to become chairman have all refused.

- Four of the five experienced fundraisers employed by the museum service have left the fundraising project, one after just three months.

- Because the trust has not been formed, the museum has not been registered with the Charity Commission, which means it cannot apply to most trusts and foundations for money.

- An appeal will be made to Bristol residents next year to help raise money for the scheme, meaning residents will have to pay twice, once through council tax and again through fundraising.

If targets aren't met the tax payer will foot the bill anyway.

The Post asked the council for a response to each of these points, but it only refuted the overall project cost.

The financial problems add to the list exclusively revealed by The Post in the last two years.

In March, figures released under the Freedom of Information Act showed the council had spent £3m on consultants alone for the scheme.

Last September it was revealed the council needed another £1.3m to bolster the project's contingency scheme, and £500,000 to cover costs that should have been paid for by a developer as part of a planning deal for a nearby building scheme, which will not now go ahead.

Council spokesman Helen Hewitt said: "Since its inception, the planning, design, development and construction of the new museum has always been to deliver a world-class museum and centre of cultural excellence for the city. And that's exactly what we are doing.

"Our budget for this prestigious project is £26.5m – this is set and we are working to this.

"Work to appoint a chair of trustees and set up a funding raising trust is well underway.

"An informal approach has been made to appoint a chair, who has the time, expertise and experience to bring together and lead a strong and dynamic board.

"Our fundraising for the museum officially starts this autumn.

"We are confident we can achieve our target, especially given the museum's unique cultural offer and outstanding collections.

"Naturally we will be looking at all the funding opportunities open to us, such as the wide variety of funding channels, agencies and organisations.

"We will rigorously progress these, not only as a local authority but also when we have secured trust status.

"As part of our move to deliver a 21st century museum, galleries and archives service, there has been a comprehensive review of every aspect of the service.

"Re-branding, service delivery and staffing are just three elements of that review.

"The review is still on-going, however, the re-branding has been agreed and is going ahead.

"It will give the new museum a distinct identity and, at the same time demonstrate its direct relationship to the council's other, excellent museums, galleries and archives.

"The new museum will be known as M Shed – this is its historical name – and it is in keeping with – and rightly reflects – the overall Harbourside development.

"There will of course be a formal launch of its name later this year."