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| Hastings Pier reopens after £14.2m redevelopment | Hastings Pier reopens after £14.2m redevelopment |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Hastings Pier has reopened, nearly six years after it was gutted in a devastating fire. | |
| The 144-year-old structure was almost destroyed by the blaze in 2010. | The 144-year-old structure was almost destroyed by the blaze in 2010. |
| But after a £14.2m redevelopment over more than two years, the attraction is once again open to the public. | |
| The former pavilion - now a restaurant and bar - welcomed its first visitors and people were able to stroll around the entire pier for the first time in a decade. | |
| Live updates | |
| There was a queue of people waiting to be among the first to set foot on the iconic pier when the gates opened at 10:00 BST. | |
| Many had visited the pier in its heyday and were excited to be back. | |
| One woman said she used to take her son there, while another visitor reminisced about riding his motorbike on the pier on his way to the Saturday night dances. | |
| BBC South East reporter Piers Hopkirk said: "The first thing that strikes you about walking on this new-look pier is the sheer scale of it. When you see it, you really start to see the potential of this place." | |
| A spokesman for the Hastings Pier Charity (HPC), which runs it, said: "We hope it will re-energise Hastings, not just as a tourist destination, but it gives a fantastic new facility to local people, as well." | A spokesman for the Hastings Pier Charity (HPC), which runs it, said: "We hope it will re-energise Hastings, not just as a tourist destination, but it gives a fantastic new facility to local people, as well." |
| Hastings Borough Council estimates the attraction, rebuilt over two-and-a-half years, will generate more than £1m a year for the local economy. | Hastings Borough Council estimates the attraction, rebuilt over two-and-a-half years, will generate more than £1m a year for the local economy. |
| After a prosperous period in the mid-20th century, the pier, built in 1872, suffered a decline as tourists set their sights farther afield. | After a prosperous period in the mid-20th century, the pier, built in 1872, suffered a decline as tourists set their sights farther afield. |
| And by 2006 it had fallen into such disrepair that it was closed for safety reasons. | |
| Although it reopened briefly, the gates were closed for good in 2008 and when fire wrecked 95% of what was left in 2010, its future looked bleak. | |
| But the council compulsorily purchased it from itd owners in 2012, and the so-called "people's pier" is now in the hands of the Hastings Pier Charity and more than 3,000 shareholders, who bought into the project at £100 a share. | |
| What the reopening will mean for Hastings | What the reopening will mean for Hastings |
| Lawrence Bell, who runs the White Rock Hotel near the seafront, said the 2010 fire had galvanised the campaign to save the building. | Lawrence Bell, who runs the White Rock Hotel near the seafront, said the 2010 fire had galvanised the campaign to save the building. |
| He said: "It was a symbol of Hastings in decline and all the problems that we have had in the past. | He said: "It was a symbol of Hastings in decline and all the problems that we have had in the past. |
| "But there is so much going on now in Hastings. It's one of the jewels in the crown of what is an amazing little town on the seaside." | "But there is so much going on now in Hastings. It's one of the jewels in the crown of what is an amazing little town on the seaside." |