REPORTS that Blackpool Tower could be dwarfed by a Big Brother that would be visible from space have been described this week as "premature to say the least".

Council bosses say they have not seen any plans to build a Tower Two that would be almost twice as tall as the present structure.

And they have admitted that they receive many suggestions for far-fetched plans for the town every year.

Roy Northridge, an accountant from Buckinghamshire, is the man behind the astonishing proposals to build what would be Britain's biggest structure.

Supposedly rising 950ft from the ground, the "Tower Two" was going to be almost as tall as the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

With shops, a restaurant and hi-tech entertainment at the summit it sounded like it would become the country's biggest money spinner.

It would be visible from space, said some. Others said that you would be able to see it from Manchester - but was the whole thing a little over the top?

One question that sprang to the mind of most readers of this tall tale was: "Where is it going to be built?"

They couldn't possibly tear down the old tower and sacrifice 100 years of local history, could they? So where would it be built? According to some reports, meetings had already been lined up with the leader of the council, Ivan Taylor.

But Coun Taylor told us otherwise. "This idea is not even at the planning stage - it is at no stage at all."

This was further confirmed by Coun George Bancroft.

He said: "At the moment this is only an idea that we have been made aware of. We haven't seen any plans at all.

"This is not the usual way that the council deals with these sorts of proposals."

The council only became aware of the grand plan after Roy Northridge wrote to the Mayor before Christmas.

Mr Northridge then approached Terry Wynn MEP.

"It's not the normal way that people go about getting planning permission," said Coun Taylor.

"It isn't unusual for us to get all sorts of suggestions like this from across the whole country and even the world but very few of them come off.

"As with any idea we are willing to meet with this man and look at his plans in detail, but as yet this hasn't happened."

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