Specialists start work on fire damaged Hastings Pier

Hastings council have now called in specialists to remove asbestos and dangerous debris from the pier, which was hit by fire a month ago.

The East Sussex pier was ravaged by a deliberate fire in the early hours of Tuesday morning on the 5th of October and two men from St Leonards have already been arrested on suspicion of arson.

When asbestos was found it was agreed with the Health Protection Agency that it had to be removed safely from the pier, although the structure itself will not be demolished.

A spokesman for the council, Kevin Boorman, said:

“I must stress that this operation is not about demolishing Hastings Pier, it is about removing loose debris and other material that is in danger of falling on to the beach below.

“Our contractors have identified that there is some asbestos in the remains of one of the buildings.

“They have already appointed specialist sub-contractors, and they are now working with the engineer to identify a safe method of removing this material.

“This is not being made any easier by the dangerous nature of the pier, particularly in the area where the asbestos has been found.”

It took firefighters four days to put out the fire on the pier.