A LETTER in The Argus today reminds me of the debt situation of the i360, now apparently just under £11 million. This debt has been referred to several times recently and there have been suggestions that it will be cleared in the next 20 years or so. But this will never happen.

The annual income will never cover the near £50 million cost of this project. The income from the sponsorship of British Airways, several hundred thousand pounds annually, has now come to an end and the numbers on the flights do not seem to be as busy as the used to be.

There is no doubt that the existing loss will continue to rise.

The Argus gave me a headline letter in July 2012, over 10 years ago, when I forecast that the i360 would never make commercial sense as the appraisal was based on 800,000 visitors, twice as many as was ever achieved.

Since then I have had six further letters over the years referring to going bust, liquidation and having to write it off, one of which is likely to happen.

What should now happen ?

The council should face reality, admit a mistake has been made, write off the debt and start again whereby the i360 will be able to make profits in the future. I have never been against the idea, it is now part of our skyline which is great but regretfully it is a financial disaster.

Very painful to us ratepayers as it is our money but be realistic and not keep our heads in the sand.

Colin Beard

Goldstone Crescent

Hove