Weston-super-Mare's Grand Pier wiped out in blaze

Fire officials are investigating after a blaze ripped through Weston-super-Mare's Grand Pier today, destroying the 104-year-old building.

Flames and thick black smoke engulfed the Somerset seaside resort's Grade II-listed structure. It had just undergone a £5 million refurbishment.

Avon Fire and Rescue said 30 firefighters had struggled to bring it under control but within two hours the building had crumbled, leaving only rubble.

She said no one had been injured in the blaze and that it was too early to tell if it was arson.

The fire is thought to have started at about 7am in the Grand Pier's west tower. The owners, Greek-Cypriot brother and sister Kerry and Michelle Michael, left for Spain yesterday.

They bought the pier five months ago from a family who had owned it for more than 60 years. They have installed a two-tier go-kart track, a climbing wall and a facility where children can make their own teddy bears and fudge.

John Penrose, MP for Weston-super-Mare, said he had given Mr Michael the bad news. "They are understandably distraught," he said. "They have been investing huge amounts of time and money. This is a personal tragedy for them and the town as a whole."

The cost of the blaze is expected to run into millions of pounds.

Anthony Wills, from the National Piers Society, said the building appeared beyond repair, adding: "Unless a miracle happens, I really can't see it being reinstated even if there's a big insurance pay-out."

He described the building as a "candyfloss pier" dedicated to traditional seaside amusements.

Privately owned piers are not eligible for Lottery funding.

National Piers Society executive committee member Mike Davies said many had closed because owners ran out of money. "This is a disaster for piers, it's a disaster for the National Piers Society, and it's a disaster for Weston," he added.

The Grand was one of the last of the great seaside piers to be built. It was created not only to provide entertainment for bucket-and-spade crowds, but as a landing facility for those arriving by steamer. The mooring plan was abandoned and the pier opened as a 2,000-seat pavilion where opera, music hall, ballet and even boxing took place.

In January 1930 the pavilion was wrecked by fire. It reopened in 1933, with a funfair replacing the theatre.

Weston's seafront is in the middle of a £28 million grant-funded revamp due to be finished by 2010.

But Nicky Mager, 37, whose family own a chain of refreshments and donkey rides, called the resort doomed. "There's nothing left. What is Weston? Only the pier and donkeys," she said.