The diggers moved on to the site on Monday at the start of a three-month operation to improve its entrance and to rebuild the bridge.

At 7,080ft (2,145m) the seaside resort's pier is the longest in the world.

Southend Council leader Charles Latham said once completed there would be a new pier entrance and the bridge would be raised to allow double-decker buses to pass beneath.

But shopkeeper Neil Raven, of Raven's Menswear, is not happy with the timing of the work.

He said: "The worry is with Christmas looming it seems the wrong time to be doing something like this.

"It will just throw people away from Southend."

The council says improvements are essential.