500ft mast planned for pier site

The designers say the mast will give people a new view of Brighton

The designers of the London Eye have drawn up plans for one of the tallest buildings in Britain on the site of the derelict West Pier in Brighton.

The £20m observation mast, called Brighton i360, rises 150m (492ft) above sea level and has an aerodynamic pod to take 100 visitors at a time to the top.

"We believe it is in the spirit of the West Pier," said Glynn Jones, chairman of the landowner, the West Pier Trust.

Public opinion will be canvassed before a planning application is submitted.

The Victorian Grade I listed pier closed in 1975 and was reduced to a metal skeleton by storm damage and fire in 2003.

Hopes of restoring it faded when the Heritage Lottery Fund withdrew a promised £19m the following year.

'Elegant and slender'

Mr Jones said the observation mast would promote regeneration of the Sussex city's seafront and uphold the heritage of the pier.

It had not been easy to find the right project, he said.

"We believe the answer is Brighton i360 - it is elegant, slender and unobtrusive.

"It is brilliant because it will achieve maximum effect with minimum intervention."

The trust said the mast would be privately funded and would generate money to restore parts of the pier.

The observation pod can carry up to 100 visitors at a time

Husband and wife designers David Marks and Julia Barfield were the brains behind the London Eye tourist attraction.

"Brighton i360 will gently raise people to a great height," said Mr Marks.

"We believe it will give people a new experience of Brighton, enabling them to see the whole of the city for the first time."

This is the second landmark scheme proposed for Brighton and Hove seafront.

Plans for a futuristic development with four towers, designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry for the King Alfred leisure centre site were submitted to the council last year.

The mast would be 6m taller than Portsmouth's Spinnaker tower and 40m higher than the London Eye.