Is the London Eye moving? Spoof posts claiming the landmark is relocating take over social media

While there were plenty of pranks from beloved brands and famous faces yesterday (April 1) for April Fools, a popular gag on social media claimed the London Eye was moving elsewhere - but it’s not.

An array of spoof posts claiming the iconic southbank wheel was being uprooted and moving to Scotland took over Facebook on Tuesday as users joined in on the April Fools pranking tradition.

The joke uploads declared the capital's famous landmark had already been taken down and was to be relocated to the banks of Loch Lomond very soon.

Featuring images of what purported to show the dismantled structure spread out on the River Thames alongside cranes, some posts added it would henceforth be known as the Loch Lomond Aye.

Of course the London Eye is not actually relocating outside of the capital. In fact it was given the green light to be a permanent fixture on London’s Southbank last year.

Having first been put up in 1999 as the Millennium Wheel, the landmark opened to the public in March 2000 and has been spinning at the same spot ever since.

It was initially given a five-year lease, but the landmark obtained permanent planning permission in 2003. However, this decision did not secure its future on the south bank past 2028.

Lambeth Council voted to keep the wheel attraction as its planning committee voted unanimously for the structure to stay put.

A similar spoof post claiming the London Eye was moving also went viral on Facebook last year.

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