BRIGHTON Wheel bosses have been told to dismantle the tourist attraction before May 19 next year after they lost their bid to stay on for another five years.

Councillors on the city council’s planning committee voted six to four in favour of not allowing the Wheel to stay past its current permission, which expires next spring.

Representatives for the Brighton Wheel immediately stated their intention to appeal the decision.

But residents living close to the 50m ferris wheel told The Argus of their delight, saying they had got their lives back.

Councillors gave the detrimental impact on residents’ lives, the “overly detrimental” height, scale and design of the structure and the harm the attraction had on the council’s long-term plans for the seafront as reasons for refusal.

In a separate development yesterday, council officers have also made it clear that they will not be renewing the Wheel’s lease or highways’ consent.

Both developments seem to confirm the final nail in the coffin with council officers instructing them to bring down the Wheel before their planning permission expires next May.

Madeira Place resident Trevor Scoble said: “We have got our lives back.

“We have been in our house for 36 years and for the last five we have had to face this overpowering structure every day.

“We are already preparing for the party when it comes down.”

Town planner Ian Coomber, who spoke in support of the Wheel at the meeting, said: “Clearly we are going for a planning appeal.

“We had the council officer’s firm and robust support.

“If they had given us just one or two years even that would not have been great for our 50 members of staff who have already endured a three-week delay over their future livelihood.”

The planning decision was delayed earlier this month following a last-minute intervention by lawyers on behalf of the i360.

Following the decision Eleanor Harris, CEO of the Brighton i360, made a guarantee to interview all the Brighton Wheel staff when it closes next year.

She said: “We are committed to paying the Living Wage to all our staff at the Brighton i360.

“We already employ a team of support staff and we will be building that team further very soon.”

However the decision has disappointed both council leader Warren Morgan and Brighton Kemptown MP Simon Kirby, who had both said they favoured the retention of the “iconic” Wheel.

EFFORTS TO SAVE WHEEL DEALT A MAJOR BLOW

The two decisive blows in the battle between the i360 and the Brighton Wheel were landed within an hour and nine minutes of each other yesterday afternoon.

The surprise decision by councillors to reject extending the planning permission was quickly followed up by a second sucker punch from the council confirming a new lease and highway’s consent would not be granted.

With council finances heavily effected by the i360’s success, it seemed the Wheel was fighting a losing battle, but their demise was expected to be drawn out a little longer.

They will appeal but public confirmation that the city council won’t renew the lease seems to render that defiance futile.

Defeat was hastened by planning committee members including Labour councillor Maggie Barradell, who effectively argued the extension of the Wheel’s stay would be a cruel blow for residents in its shadow who had been counting down to its removal.

Green councillor Leo Littman argued that the continuation of the Wheel would harm the city’s future seafront development, in part because of it’s detrimental impact on the i360, and that the attraction’s time had “been and gone”.

Committee members were also split on the Wheel’s appeal with the Conservation Advisory Group’s Jim Gowans calling it “cheap and cheerful”, but Conservative councillor Joe Miller labelled it an “underwhelming” experience and a structure which detracted from the Palace Pier and Volk’s Railway.

Committee members had discussed the possibility of extending the Wheel’s stay for one or two additional years but eventually voted against any extension.

Both attractions hate to be pitted as rivals but there is certainly no love lost.

The plot thickened at yesterday’s meeting when The West Pier Trust’s chairman Glynn Jones turned up to speak against the Wheel - ostensibly in support of local residents who belonged to the Kingscliffe Society.