London Eye looking to the future

THE UK's most popular tourist attraction, the London Eye, is close to ending a row over its lease. Its landlord, the South Bank Centre, was demanding £2.5m a year rent - up from £65,000.

It could pave the way for a refinancing and exit by British Airways, which jointly owns the Eye with the Tussauds Group and architects Marks Barfield.

The Eye, with 3.7m visitors a year, has to make payments to BA, which put up the cash to build the wheel. With interest at 25% it was locked into losses, but a refinancing to cut the debt could lift the wheel into the black.

Sources say that once this was achieved, BA would look to sell its stake, with Tussauds and Marks Barfield thought to have first refusal.

Last month, London mayor Ken Livingstone waded into the row over the Eye's future, branding the chairman of the South Bank Centre a 'prat' for appearing to threaten the attraction's future.

Livingstone attacked South Bank Centre boss Lord Hollick in a speech to the London Assembly and urged him to step down. He declared that the tourist attraction would be safeguarded one way or the other. At one point during the row, there was even a claim that Paris planned to buy the Eye to enhance its Olympic bid.