Brighton i360: Plea to scrap wind turbine and rainwater harvesting

Plans to add a turbine on the top of England's tallest viewing tower outside London are likely to be scrapped.

The i360 project, which has been designed by the team behind the London Eye, is being built on Brighton's seafront.

The developers have applied for two environmental conditions - a wind turbine on top of the tower and rainwater recycling - to be scrapped.

The decision will be made by Brighton and Hove City council on 6 October.

John Roberts, the i360's chief engineer, said the turbine would have an impact on the tower's "damping system" which protects it in high winds.

He said: "In the very early designs of the tower, we had proposed including a wind turbine at the top, however detailed studies by our damping specialist showed that the wind turbine would have stopped the tower damping system from working properly."

He added that the turbine would also be susceptible to damage in the wind.

A rainwater water harvesting system was also proposed, but this has been dropped by the developers as the water would be "too dirty to be useable".

Developers hope the 530ft (162m) tower will attract at least 700,000 visitors a year, making it the city's most popular paid-for attraction.