Plans for Europe's tallest building

A £600m scheme to build Europe's tallest office block is being proposed today in a move that would provide a spectacular landmark for London. The building, to be erected beside London Bridge station, would tower above the City at almost 1,200ft - 400ft higher than the Canary Wharf tower - and provide 87 floors of office space

The scheme, put forward by a consortium led by private developer Sellar Property Group, would produce the world's sixth-tallest building. It would offer 1.1 million sq ft of accommodation.

Likely to be known as London Bridge Tower, the development would replace the 214,000 sq ft Southwark Towers office block, built in the 1970s and occupied by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Planning permission for the building is to be sought later this year. The consortium, which includes developer CLS Holdings and an unnamed offshore fund, plans to build London Bridge Tower by 2005.

Irvine Sellar, chief executive of Sellar, said: "This provides an opportunity to create a global landmark for London. We believe that our proposals for London Bridge Tower will complement the planned redevelopment of the station complex and will continue the renaissance of London's South Bank."

The development would be sited next to the new home for the new Greater London Authority and the mayor, now under construction.