Eastbourne Pier: Two potential buyers interested

Two potential buyers have expressed an interest in purchasing Eastbourne Pier a year after it was badly damaged by fire, the BBC has learned.

It comes two months after Eastbourne Borough Council refused owner Cuerden Leisure permission to install temporary children's rides on the pier.

The company would not comment on the possible sale.

Property agent Bilfinger GVA said it had been instructed to undertake a "strategic options review".

"This exercise is expected to take a number of weeks to complete," it said in a statement.

Cuerden Leisure has already sold three piers this year - Blackpool's South and Central Piers and the Grade II listed Llandudno Pier - for a total of £8.5m.

About one third of Eastbourne's 1870 Grade II* listed structure was destroyed in the blaze on 30 July 2014.

It was partially reopened last September but a large section remains empty.

Stephen Lloyd, who was the Lib Dem MP for Eastbourne until losing his seat in May's election, said it was important the future of the pier was secured.

"The opportunity for new companies to come in to give this a tremendous lift for the next 20, 30, 40 years is huge and I think the town will really encourage whoever comes down," he said.

But the National Piers Society said refusal of permission for the rides would make the pier less attractive to buyers.

"I doubt if any potential buyer will be interested in taking it on if Eastbourne continue to refuse a development of some kind while the building itself is reconstructed," said spokesman Anthony Wills.

The council said the rides proposal was not suitable in the long term because it was not in keeping with the Grade II* listed structure.