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Paris City Hall votes to axe giant ferris wheel

In an escalating conflict with self-styled fairgound boss Marcel Campion, and following the decision to end a Christmas market he managed on the Champs-Elyséee avenue, Paris City Hall has announced that the 77-year-old's licence to operate the giant Grande Roue situated on the Place de la Concorde will be ended next year.

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Paris councillors have voted to axe the Grande Roue, the French capital's equivalent of 'the London Eye', reports The Guardian.

The ferris wheel, operated by the “fairground king” Marcel Campion, will be closed from July 2018.

Councillors voted almost unanimously against renewing Campion’s licence for the attraction, which has sat intermittently on the Place de la Concorde near the Louvre museum since 1993.

Permanent removal of the wheel would help protect the area’s “historic visual appearance”, they said.

The deputy mayor, Bruno Julliard, said the councillors indicated they were not against a ferris wheel being erected elsewhere.

The attraction could 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. In July, the council voted to axe the Christmas market he has run on the Champs Élysées since 2008.

Some local lawmakers complained that the quality of the items for sale was not in keeping with an avenue that hosts luxury labels such as Louis Vuitton. They want the Christmas market to be replaced with a more upmarket site selling products made in Paris.

Read more of this AFP report published by The Guardian.