New York’s Twin Towers light tribute to fade out

The Tribute of Light memorial to the World Trade Centre victims will go dark this weekend despite a campaign to keep it on, organisers said today.

The twin mile-high beams close to Ground Zero, which can be seen from across New York and beyond, are to remain lit all Saturday night before fading into the dawn on Sunday.

The pillars of light have been widely praised as a moving tribute to the2,830 people who died on September 11. The memorial has lit up Manhattan every night since March 11 - six months after the terror strikes.

‘‘They mean so much. It’s the stairway to heaven,’’ said Butch Jones, from Gainesville, Florida, who was in New York this week to see the lights.

Attendance at the Empire State Building’s observation deck jumped by a fifth as people flocked to get the best view of the memorial, which cost 500,000 US dollars (£350,000).

John Whitehead, head of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, suggested this week that 100,000 US dollars (£70,000) in private donations could keep the project going. The electricity bill alone for the 88 high-powered bulbs came to 10,000 dollars (£7,000) a month.

But environmentalists opposed extending the tribute, warning that the lights confuse migratory birds and lead to large numbers of deaths.

Residents living near the lights also wanted them to be turned off after the agreed one month was up.

Organisers said the lights may be relit in the future as part of another memorial.