500ft big wheel rolls ahead for millennium

The plan for a 500ft "Millennium Wheel" on the south bank of the Thames in London was approved by the Government last night.

John Gummer, Secretary of State for the Environment, described the pounds 10m plan as "an inspired idea" for marking the millennium and said he had no plans to call in the planning application. The project would provide "unparalleled, once-in-a-lifetime views of the heart of the capital", he added in a Commons reply.

The proposal, by the architects David Marks and Julia Barfield, is being funded privately with the backing of British Airways. The wheel will be in Jubilee Gardens next to the former County Hall. It will be used for five years, spanning the millennium. Picture, page 6