were within that requirement by the standard in both cases the aim was to ensure if the lift ever went into free fall or uncontrolled downward movement the safety components stopped the lift without causing any serious injury to the occupant. BSI ceased using the test tower soon after the site was acquired for housing in 1997–98. The building is now privately owned and has been renamed the National Lift Tower. Following extensive renovation and repairs, the tower was re-opened for business in October 2009. The tower is used by lift companies for research, development, testing and marketing. As well as being a resource for the lift industry, the building is also available to companies requiring tall vertical spaces, for example companies wishing to test working-at-height safety devices. There are six lift shafts of varying heights and speeds, including a high speed shaft with a travel of 100 metres and a theoretical maximum speed of 10 m/s. The tower's renovation was officially completed in July 2010. Further building work was planned with planning permission being sought to build a visitor's centre incorporating a 100-seater auditorium and cafe. However, permission for this structure was denied by Northampton Borough Council in March 2012. Abseiling at the tower has been going on since May 2011 with over £140,000 having been raised for charity in the period to May 2012. Northampton Borough Council has now granted approval for it to be used up to 24 times a year for abseiling. As of 2015, the tower is being used as the world's tallest drainage-testing facility. Radiocommunications The tower now houses a transmitter on the top of it, for broadcasting community radio station Revolution Radio which launched on Saturday 12 June 2021. Mentions The tower featured prominently in a 1993 episode of the Channel 4 educational programme The Secret Life of Machines (Series 3, Episode 1), in which Tim Hunkin demonstrates the operation of the high speed lift in the tower. The tower was lampooned by broadcaster Terry Wogan as the "Northampton lighthouse". He wrote a section of the book, Icons of Northamptonshire (2014) about it. The local paper Northampton Chronicle and Echo published an article for April Fools' Day 2008, claiming that the lift tower would be pulled down. Comments were made on the paper's website regarding the lack of respect of the local council for not publicly announcing it. Another April Fools' Day story