Paris scraps Big Wheel attraction

Paris councillors on Wednesday voted to axe the city's prominent riverside Ferris wheel, the French capital's version of the London Eye. Run by "fairground king" Marcel Campion who has also seen his Christmas market on the Champs-Elysees scrapped because authorities deemed it too tacky, the attraction will be closed from July 2018. City councillors voted almost unanimously against granting him a fresh licence for the "Grande Roue", which has sat intermittently on the Place de la Concorde near the Louvre museum since 1993. Councillors said getting rid of the wheel would help protect the area's "historic visual appearance". They indicated that they were not against a Ferris wheel being erected somewhere else, said deputy mayor Bruno Julliard. It could potentially be set up in time for next year's Christmas holidays, he said, adding: "Anyone could apply to run it, even Marcel Campion." The decision comes as a further blow to Campion -- who has been embroiled in various legal troubles in recent years -- after the council voted in July to get rid of the Christmas market he has run since 2008. Some local lawmakers complained that the quality of the wares on sale was not in keeping with an avenue that hosts luxury labels such as Louis Vuitton as well as high street chains like H&M. They want it replaced with a more upmarket site selling products made in Paris. Angry funfair operators and market stall holders blocked major roads around the capital earlier this month over that decision in the latest of several protests, saying their livelihood was under threat. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said this week that Campion had been told "we cannot suffer the permanent threat of having the capital blockaded".