Vow to restore battered West Pier

The latest collapse comes after two fires hit the pier in 2003

Campaigners have vowed to continue their fight to restore the West Pier in Brighton despite the latest collapse.

The remains of the concert hall towards the front of the Victorian structure fell into the sea on Wednesday after a battering by summer storms.

The pier, one of two in the city, began disintegrating in storms in January 2003 and was then hit by two fires.

Despite the latest setback, the West Pier Trust said it will carry on with its plans to restore the pier.

'Fantastic' structure

Rachel Clarke, from the trust, said: "We have an awful lot of material in storage and we have all our video material and plans and photographs.

"So our ability to reconstruct the pier is still there.

"It (the concert hall) was always vulnerable but what we never expected was that we would have such a severe storm at the height of summer so we have been caught off-guard."

Ken Bodfish, leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, said: "The reality was there was always going to be a major restoration and major rebuild even before yesterday, so nothing really has changed on that front.

English Heritage is due to outline new restoration plans in September

"The critical thing is, if there is an agreement to go ahead and rebuild this fantastic Victorian structure then that is what will happen."

The collapse of the concert hall means the ballroom is now marooned in the sea with nothing connecting it to the shore.

Remnants of the concert hall, washed up along the beach, have been collected by souvenir hunters.

The pier was first battered by storms in January 2003 when sections fell into the sea.

A fire in March 2003 then ripped through the structure stripping much of it down to its metal skeleton. A second fire then hit the pier in May.

The West Pier Trust has continued to lobby for restoration despite the Heritage Lottery Fund withdrawing £14m it had allocated towards its restoration.

English Heritage had also said it wanted to save the pier and was proposing to put fresh plans in place in September.