Council could buy Hastings Pier

Hastings Borough Council has said it would be prepared to buy the town's pier if it was proved it could be run as a viable business.

Campaigners have been fighting to secure the future of Hastings Pier since it was closed in 2006 amid fears it could collapse.

The council said it would be prepared to issue a compulsory purchase order against the pier's offshore owners.

It said the decision would depend on the results of a feasibility study.

The Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust (HPWRT) has commissioned the £25,000 study, with the results expected in about four weeks.

I am very hopeful the study will say, 'yes, this is a goer'. Council leader Jeremy Birch

Council leader Jeremy Birch said: "The study has to show that structurally the pier is rescuable.

"It has to show financially that the project could work and it (the trust) has to show that it's got a business plan that makes sense.

"The council wants to work in partnership with the trust because they are the only people who have got any idea how the pier can be saved.

"I am very hopeful the study will say 'yes, this is a goer'. Let's accentuate the positive."

Felix Robinson, who chairs HPWRT, welcomed the council's approach.

He said: "The trust does not want to own the pier, any more than the council does to be honest, if it's not viable.

"We want to make sure that the study vindicates what we have been saying and the early indications are that it will."

Hastings Pier is owned by Panamanian-registered company Ravenclaw.

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