Eubank wants to rebuild West Pier

All that is left of the pier is the shell of the ballroom section

Chris Eubank has criticised delays in restoring Brighton's West Pier and said he could raise the money needed to rebuild it in six months.

The former world champion boxer, who lives in Hove, also spoke out in favour of Brighton and Hove Albion's attempts to build a new stadium in the city.

The pier, closed since 1975 and badly damaged by two fires in 2003, suffered even worse damage in storms last week.

Earlier this year the Heritage Lottery Fund withdrew funding for its repair.

'Give it to me'

On Tuesday Mr Eubank said he wanted to step in if existing plans to restore the pier did not work.

I'm not a liberal - if there's something that needs doing, come to me and I'll shout it from the roof top Chris Eubank

He said: "If it fails, give it to me and I will pay for it.

"If they decide to do away with it, give me six months and I will raise the money myself.

"I don't even need the Heritage Lottery Fund - I will raise the finance myself and I will do it myself.

"I won't do the building work myself, but we have the team.

"I'm not a liberal - if there's something that needs doing, come to me and I'll shout it from the roof top.

"I'll even put it on the back of my truck and take it outside Downing Street, like I've been arrested for doing before."

Metal skeletons

Despite being closed to the public for nearly three decades, the pier remained in close to its working state until storm damage in December 2002 and January 2003.

The pier first began to collapse into the sea in storms in 2002

One of the two main sections of the pier, the concert hall close to the beach, partially collapsed in those storms.

The two fires, in April and May 2003, left both the concert hall and the ballroom section further out at sea, as just metal skeletons.

In the storms of last week the remaining frame of the concert hall collapsed, leaving the ballroom section isolated and cut off at sea.

Mr Eubank was first linked to the pier's restoration before any of the storms or fire damage.

He is involved with the Eugenius group, named after architect Eugenius Birch, who built the pier in 1866, which has said it wants to rebuild the attraction.