Public funding of Brighton's debt-ridden i360 attraction 'unforgivable'

The viewing tower opened in 2016 on the site once occupied by the entrance to Brighton's ruined West Pier

A debt-ridden tourist attraction should not have been financed with public money, a council leader has said.

Labour's Bella Sankey said the decision by Green and Conservative councillors to use Brighton and Hove City Council's funds on i360 was "unforgivable".

The tower's operators have failed to repay millions of pounds, blaming bad weather, the pandemic and falling visitor numbers for reduce revenue.

Ms Sankey said she had met with its managers to discuss their plans.

The 531ft (161m) viewing tower opened in 2016 on the site once occupied by the entrance to Brighton's ruined West Pier, giving visitors views from Bexhill in East Sussex to Chichester in West Sussex with the South Downs to the north.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said a council meeting was told the authority had set aside £2.2m a year for the next 20 years to pay back the £36m borrowed from the Public Works Loan Board for the attraction's construction.

Councillor Jacob Taylor said he did not believe there was "an immediate plan to take it away from the seafront"

The LDRS said its operators had so far repaid £5.8m but, under the original repayment schedule, had been due to pay almost £18m by September 2023.

It said a payment of about £900,000 which was due in December 2022 was not paid.

Ms Sankey told the meeting on Thursday the council's priority was to recover all or as much of its money as possible, but it was Green and Conservative councillors who "lumbered" the authority "with this significant debt and this reckless use of public funds".

She said that amounted to "an unforgivable lack of judgment... which they must never be allowed to forget".

"Despite this, we hope that this landmark in our city can turn itself around as nobody sets to gain from its failure, least of all residents," she added.

"It's for this reason that myself and councillor Jacob Taylor have met with the current managers... to talk about their plans.

Mr Taylor said if the council put the operators into "default", it would mean that the council could suffer the entire financial loss straight away.

"I don't think there's an immediate plan to take it away from the seafront," he added.

Additional reporting by Sarah Booker-Lewis, Local Democracy Reporter.

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].