Plans for a huge viewing platform for the Eiffel tower have been unveiled.

The Paris skyline could undergo a transformation if the designs for a new cantilevered platform that would double the capacity of the public viewing area are given the stamp of approval.

The design, which would be 276m above the ground, would not require any permanent modification to the existing structure.

The new platform would be bolted onto the tower using a web of Kevlar, an extremely strong and lightweight carbon fibre used in the construction of racing cars and body armour.

Serero Architects of Paris have submitted the design to the Eiffel Tower management group prior to the tower's 120th anniversary in 2009.

There had been reports that the plans had already been given the go ahead, but David Serero, principal of Serero Architects, has said his firm's proposal was merely a spontaneous design it had submitted to the Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE).

The famous Parisian landmark attracts 6.9 million visitors a year, but is so popular that hour-long queues of people wishing to use the tower's lifts form daily.

The tower was designed by Gustave Eiffel as a temporary structure for the 1889 World's Fair. It proved unpopular with the French public at first but is now the most visited fee-charging monument in the world.

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Story by Dean Murray