BRIGHTON Wheel bosses want to see the 50 metre tourist attraction remain on the seafront until 2021.

Paramount Entertainments have applied to extend planning permission for the seafront ferris wheel for a further five years after its temporary permission expires in April next year.

The applicants say that the wheel’s continued presence on the seafront will bring in an extra £12.6 million to the city if allowed to stay and could continue in tandem with the new i360 which is due to open next summer.

But i360 bosses say they are “surprised” by the application and that their funding agreement with Brighton and Hove City Council was based on the city not having a rival viewing attraction.

Bosses behind the wheel project, who spent £6.5 million to bring the attraction to Brighton seafront, say that concerns raised at its initial planning permission stage around noise, traffic problems and long queues have not been realised in part because actual visitor numbers have been lower than predicted.

It was predicted that the wheel would attract 250,000 visitors a year and while it surpassed that in its first full year with 260,000 that fell to 186,000 in its second year.

In Paramount’s application, the company said that a further five years for the Brighton Wheel will allow for “any delays in the introduction of the i360”.

The company also claim that ferris wheels and viewing platforms can co-exist at major tourist locations citing Blackpool and Las Vegas as examples.

They claim that an extended stay for the wheel would bring £12.6 million into the city economy, retain 51 full-time jobs and bring £1 million of income to the city council in rent and business rates.

Wheel bosses have also proposed investing a further £150,000 in improvements and maintenance at the site as well as the potential to establish the site as a VisitBrighton official visitor information point and offer improved educational resources for schools and groups to learn about the history of ferris wheels.

In comparison i360 bosses claim their £36.2 million project will create an estimated 440 new jobs and bring in an additional £25m annually to the city with £1 million a year directly to the council.

Planning application for the Brighton Wheel was granted in 2011 – five years after the i360 attraction was first given approval.

Eleanor Harris, CEO of Brighton i360, said the Brighton Wheel was granted permission to be “a temporary attraction as a stop gap” at a time when the i360 funding was stalled.

She said: "The wheel’s lease has a condition that it must close when the Brighton i360 opens and so we are surprised they have applied to stay.

"The wheel has always been a temporary attraction which is mobile and can be moved on.

"We selected Brighton as the city to build the i360 due to a combination of the large existing tourist economy, wonderful views and the fact that there are no other observation competitors in the city.

“Our funding agreement with the Council, has always assumed that there is no rival observation attraction in Brighton, so it would be harmful for the city if it stayed.”