The first phase of a £13.5m project to reinstate secret rooms used by Winston Churchill's wife and staff during World War 2 has been completed.

The area is a section of the Cabinet War Rooms complex situated beneath the Treasury building in London, part of which was opened to the public by the Imperial War Museum in 1984.

Opening on 8 April, the £7m renovation includes Mrs Churchill's bedroom, Churchill's kitchen and dining room and his private detectives' room, the Chief of Staff Map Room and the bedroom of Churchill's War Cabinet Minister, Brendon Bracken.

Restoration of the rooms, originally opened in 1941 and closed in August 1945, was undertaken by working from wartime photographs and using original furniture and fittings.

A major part of the project has been the creation of state of the art education and conference facilities, with the aim of doubling the number of educational visitors over the next five years. Last year the Cabinet War Rooms were visited by more than 290,000 people.

Funding for the first phase was provided by both a 'form of PFI', whereby the developer would become landlord of the CWR, and a £2m grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund.

A second phase of the development, which is scheduled to open in January 2005 and whose £6m cost will be funded entirely from charitable donations, will see the creation of a museum dedicated to the life of Churchill. This will be situated in another area of the complex and is scheduled to open in 2005. Details: www.iwm.org.uk