Reopening hope for troubled pier

Hastings Pier has been embroiled in legal disputes for nearly a year

A bingo hall and bar owner on Hastings Pier, in East Sussex, has agreed a deal with the council which could allow the front part of the structure to reopen.

Stylus Sports is committing £200,000 for repairs underneath its pier premises, with the local authority footing the £50,000 scaffolding costs.

The whole pier has been closed since November, leading to a legal dispute with its owner, Ravenclaw Investments.

A spokesman welcomed the repairs but said they could have been done before.

Appeal lost

Hastings Borough Council used emergency powers to close the south end of the pier last June, a move ratified by the town's magistrates in September.

The whole of the Victorian structure was shut two months later when the last traders left.

But Peter Hargreaves, managing director of Stylus Sports, said: "It is [now] essential to get as much of the pier as possible reopened... in time for the summer season."

He said that having the bingo club and Bar Luxor trading again would "present a lifeline for the pier".

Mr Hargreaves asked the council to support his investment in repairs, and on Monday the cabinet "agreed unanimously in principle to consider the expenditure of up to £50,000".

Damages claim

A council spokesman added that the move "could allow some of the smaller units at the front of the pier to reopen".

Ravenclaw's Harmesh Pooni commented: "I welcome that the council and Stylus Sports are willing to put money in."

An appeal by the company against the pier's closure was rejected by Lewes Crown Court on Friday.

Ravenclaw has always said it wanted to see the pier reopened, but it also now faces a health and safety prosecution as well as a damages claim from Stylus Sports.

Mr Pooni said these matters were in the hands of Ravenclaw's lawyers.