Brighton's i360 tower misses latest loan repayment

Visitor numbers at the i360 have been lower than forecast

Brighton's i360 has missed another loan repayment after what it called the "financial challenge" of lockdown.

Brighton and Hove City Council agreed to defer a £1.2m repayment it had expected from the seafront attraction.

More than £6m in repayments have been missed in the last three years, with visitor numbers to the i360 falling short of forecasts.

A council member said the authority had a duty to support the venue to "protect" residents from its £41m loan.

In 2014, the city council agreed to lend £36.2m to Brighton i360 Ltd to fund the 530ft (162m) tower - money which came from the government's Public Works Loan Board.

In 2019, councillors drew up a loan restructure which reduced future instalments, in order to give the business a better chance of paying off the loan.

Now, according to a council report, interest on the i360's debt has pushed the outstanding sum up to £41m.

The i360 tower was made by the same people behind the popular London Eye attraction

Julia Barfield, head of Brighton i360 Ltd, said: "The three lockdown closures of our operation for many months has, like so many leisure attractions, meant we faced a huge financial challenge.

"With such a limited time to generate income during the last year and the ongoing costs, Brighton i360 does not have the funds available for a loan payment in June."

Ms Barfield said the attraction expected a "very strong domestic holiday market this summer".

The i360 tower is branded the world's thinnest tall building

Conservative councillor Steve Bell said the council would be "slightly out of pocket" as it would be paying back its own loan on the tower.

But he said councillors were not just "nodding" through the deferral.

"What we are doing here is not blindly going along with what the i360 are asking us for," he said.

"But what we are trying to do is protect the residents of the city from what is now a £41 million loan."

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