Rome's Colosseum has 40cm tilt, needs urgent fix

ROME'S ancient Colosseum is leaning and needs urgent repairs but the long-delayed restoration project has been pushed back to December.

Experts have discovered that the former gladiator battle ground is tilting about 40 centimetres inches on its southern side, possibly due to cracked foundations, sparking fresh fears the iconic monument may be falling apart.

"It could be due to several factors: flaws in the original construction - though 40 centimetres is rather a lot for that case - or problems with the foundations," the Colosseum's site director Rossella Rea said.

The landmark 2000-year-old Roman amphitheatre, which is at the centre of a busy intersection, has been dogged by problems with chunks of the arches falling off in December last year, following similar reports of damage in 2010.

Ms Rea has appointed Italy's Institute of Environmental Geology (IGAG) and La Sapienza University in Rome to explore possible reasons for the tilt. Their findings are expected to be published in a year's time.