BERLIN is about to give the go-ahead for the construction of a Ferris wheel 40 metres taller than the London Eye in an attempt to revive the west of the city, which has been in decline since the fall of the Wall prompted massive investment in the former East Berlin.

A group of private investors plans to erect the wheel, 175m (575ft) high, next to Zoo station in west Berlin by the autumn of 2008 and is close to signing a property deal with the city, Michael Waiser, its chief executive, told The Times.

Herr Waiser said that the London Eye was part of the inspiration for the 120 million euro (£82 million) project, which has German and international backers. Local shopkeepers and city councillors hope that it will give a fillip to the crumbling district, once a glittering island of capitalism and culture that symbolised the West’s defiance of communism.

The biggest recent blow to the west has been the opening in May of the city’s new main railway station close to the Brandenburg Gate, which means that long-distance trains no longer stop at Zoo station, once the city’s main rail hub.

“Businesses around Zoo station have reported a 70 per cent fall in sales since the end of May,” said Peter-Michael Riedel, who heads a lobby group of Kurfürstendamm retailers and is organising a demonstration next week to urge the railway to make more trains stop at Zoo. “The big wheel would of course be a big attraction for the west.”

Times Recommends

• Michael Jackson: Not the final chapter
• Indian Army spends10m rupees on golf buggies
• Brüno toned down for 15 rating