COUNCILLORS are deferring a loan repayment of more than £1 million after the i360 said it could not pay it back.

Members of Brighton and Hove City Council’s Policy, Resources, and Growth Committee have agreed to allow the viewing tower to miss £1.342 million of its planned repayment this month.

The city council had already agreed to defer a planned £1.45 million payment back in 2018, leading to more calls for the i360 to shore up its finances.

Conservative group leader Steve Bell said the i360 should not be costing the city’s residents money and called for a public meeting on the topic.

He said: “They are able to function as a business because of the money loaned to them on support from residents.

“Our residents should hear from them.”

The council originally loaned out £36.2 million from the Public Works Loan Board, a Government bank, to the i360.

It was to be paid back in instalments every June and December until 2041.

But now the council has deferred multiple payments to give the attraction breathing space to spend on its marketing budget.

The company running the viewing tower, i360 Ltd, did pay £150,000 to the council in June as part of the loan repayment, but both sides agreed to defer further payments.

A city council report said it expected this payment to be “the lowest payment we receive before the improved performance starts”.

Council officer Nick Hibberd, who is in charge of economic policy, said the i360 had increased its marketing budget and had received 7.1 per cent more visitors so far this year compared to 2018.

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He said: “This is moving in the right direction.

“June is always more than challenging as the summer season is not in full swing.”

According to council figures, 26 per cent more visitors came to the i360 so far in July compared with last year.

Labour councillor Daniel Yates said it was imperative the council ensured the attraction was financially viable.

He said: “We have a responsibility to the economics of Brighton and Hove, not world tourism.

“If we were asked to borrow £38 million for somewhere in the world, where would we know 100,000 a year would be attracted to?

“A 360 degree panorama of what? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plains? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon?”

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Green councillor Sue Shanks said the attraction has “regenerated” the seafront but said the i360 report made for “disturbing” reading.

Fellow Green Martin Osborne added: “It has brought investment in the local area around the i360 and has been a benefit in terms of tourism.

“We should be more patient.”

But Conservative councillor Tony Janio complained the committee had not received details on what would happen if the i360 did not recover.

The city council has previously toyed with the idea of taking the i360 into public ownership.

It is expected finance specialists Avison Young will recommend to the council in autumn how to progress with the troubled attraction.

In a letter to economic chief Mr Hibberd, the i360 board said it had increased marketing spending to £500,000 and appointed a new commercial chief.

It expects more than 360,000 visitors to head to the attraction between March 2019 and March 2020.

The company has increased marketing in the South East and worked with language schools in Brighton to increase awareness of the attraction.

But i360 Ltd also cut costs by reducing the size of their staff and would consider upping the entrance fee to £16.99 next year.

The attraction’s British Airways sponsorship has also been called into question after the airline reduced its payments to i360 Ltd.

The initial five-year deal ends in August 2021 and it is not yet known whether British Airways will renew it.

I360 Ltd was contacted for comment but declined to respond.

The attraction was designed by Marks Barfield, who also drew up the London Eye.

It was granted planning permission in 2007, but construction did not start until 2012.

The i360 finally opened in 2016, having cost £46.2 million to build.

More than £36 million of this was paid from a Public Works Loan Boards loan from the city council.

It was originally expected the attraction would see 800,000 visitors in its first year, but the actual figure was more than 500,000.

Last year visitor numbers were lower than forecast, in keeping with a number of attractions in Brighton such as the Royal Pavilion.