The London Eye attracted 4m visitors in 2002

The 450 foot wheel, which dominates the skyline on the south bank of the Thames, received 33% of votes from overseas visitors polled by souvenir retailer Glorious Britain.

Its share of the vote put it far ahead of its nearest competitor, the Lanes shopping area of Brighton, which took 14% of votes.

The Eye, which is operated by British Airways, originally only had planning permission for five years.

Top 10 'cool' places The London Eye - 33% The Lanes, Brighton - 14% Covent Garden - 9% Cambridge University and river - 8% Windsor - 7% Soho - 6% Westminster Abbey and Big Ben - 5% Hampton Court Palace - 4% Urbis Museum, Manchester - 4% Liverpool Waterfront - 3%

But it is now one of London's most popular attractions and has won approval to remain on its site for 25 years.

Last year it confirmed its position as one of the UK's top attractions by taking four million visitors on board.

Other popular London attractions included Covent Garden, which came in third, Soho which was sixth and Westminster Abbey and Big Ben which came seventh.

Cambridge University and its picturesque river, Windsor Castle and Manchester's state-of-the-art Urbis Museum also did well.

The survey was carried out across 25 countries and 700 tourists were questioned for the poll.