Plans unveiled for crumbling pier

Outline planning permission could be granted by the end of May

Developers planning to transform historic Birnbeck Pier at Weston-super-Mare have unveiled their vision of its future.

It would offer 60 shops, a shopping and leisure complex, a museum and a monorail for the Victorian structure.

Businessman James Scott, who grew up in the Somerset town, wants to spend £30m on the transformation.

Weston-super-Mare Town Council could grant outline planning permission at the end of May.

In February Mr Scott said the pier, currently in a state of disrepair, could reopen within three years.

The pier was opened in the late 1800s and links Weston seafront with a small island.