FIREFIGHTERS and lifeboat crews swarmed around the Palace Pier as they practiced how they would deal with a blaze on the 115-year-old structure.

Crewmen from the RNLI and East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service descended on the iconic Brighton pier as they deployed engines and lifeboats in a mock-up operation which fooled some.

People on social media reported nervously there was a fire in a chip shop on the pier as they spotted smoke rising from the pier.

But fire crews confirmed the smoke was simply adding to the realism of their drill and there was no danger to the tourist attraction, which sees nearly four million visitors a year.

Crews were practicing how they would react if the pier ever did go up in flames in the wake of fires at the Eastbourne and Hastings pier.

Famously Brighton's derelict West Pier was destroyed by fire in 2003, leaving just a skeletal hulk standing in the water on the Hove end of Brighton Beach.