Fire-damaged Eastbourne pier to partially reopen next weekend

Part of the fire-hit Eastbourne pier will reopen next weekend, less than two months after a blaze destroyed sections of it, council chiefs have announced.

Walkways have been constructed from the front of the 144-year-old, Grade II*-listed attraction, enabling visitors to access part of it. They will be able to walk on two-thirds of the 305-metre (1,000ft) pier that were not destroyed, including the shops, cafe, fishing platform and nightclub.

Eastbourne council said traders would begin to move back into their shops, and a family fun day would be held to mark its partial reopening next Saturday.

The fire on 30 July left the dome-shaped amusement arcade near the privately owned pier's entrance a scorched shell. No one was hurt in the blaze.

It was initially suspected that an electrical fault could have caused the fire, but Sussex police are now treating the incident as "suspicious". No arrests have been made.

In the aftermath, the prime minister, David Cameron, and the chancellor, George Osborne, visited the pier to see the damage, as Downing Street pledged about £2m to help Eastbourne's tourism industry recover from the pier's loss.