THE administrators controlling Liverpool’s tallest building the West Tower have paid Liverpool City Council £500,000 for a patch of “fresh air”.

The West Tower’s original developer, Beetham, had been unable to sell 60 apartments in the tower because the building overhung a 36 sq m piece of public highway, meaning the Land Registry would not consider proposed sales.

Mapfield, one of the Beetham companies that controlled the 40-storey tower, agreed in 2008 to buy the land from the council for £750,000.

But the deal was never completed and, in February last year, Mapfield and West Tower Limited went into administration – leaving the council chasing the money.

In April, the Post revealed that the tower had been put up for sale by administrators Grant Thornton and that a deal had been agreed for the land overhung by the tower. At the time, both parties declined to reveal the value of the deal.

But, in response to a request from the paper under the Freedom of Information Act, the council confirmed that it had agreed a deal with Grant Thornton worth £500,000 plus surveyor’s fees and legal costs. The deal was agreed in November and was completed in March.