BRIGHTON'S seafront terraces are so badly “in danger of collapse” that businesses are being told they must leave.

A gallery and rehearsal studio must go after a severely corroded beam was discovered, leaving part of the Madeira Drive Terraces "beyond repair".

The much loved Concorde 2 music venue is currently safe but was also deemed as at risk of "progressive collapse" of the arches above.

Austen Gayton - manager of the rehearsal space Studio 284, said the news is "still sinking in" with an element of shock and frustration" as he has been there for 20 years.

He said: "I don't have a business as of October and I have a lot of practical problems to solve including where to store all this equipment.

"I've never been anything other than a musician, run this place and a single father so I don't know what I'd do as a job after this."

Julie-Anne Gilburt has also been told by Brighton and Hove City Council she will have to close down her JAG gallery by the end of the month, after 10 years.

JAG gallery had already been forced to move some of its work into a Portakabin and the council is looking at relocation options.

The gallery owner posted on her Facebook page that she "can't stop crying”.

A council spokeswoman said: "Parts of the Terraces were fenced off earlier this summer, but the situation has become much more serious as elements within bays one to five of the Terraces are now severely corroded leaving them beyond repair and in danger of collapse."

She said the council is taking action to protect tenants and the public after the discovery by surveyors of a cast-iron beam in such a poor state that piecemeal repairs could no longer maintain the structure properly.

Surveys are also being carried out to ensure safety at music venue Concorde 2 .

A spokeswoman said work has begun to structurally support the corroded beam "but there is still a risk of a progressive collapse".

"This could affect the access stairs, and the remaining tenants within the Terraces - Studio 284 and Concorde 2," she added.

Madeira Drive will be closed around the music venue on Friday and Saturday nights to allow gig goers a safe space to queue while temporary fencing along the Terraces will be replaced with a more permanent anti-climb fence in the autumn.

Steve Honeysett, of the adjacent Honeysett Galleries, said the JAG gallery owner was "the one that created it all from nothing in the first place".

“We are not affected because we are a brick built structure but JAG is effectively the first arch.

“But while we are not directly affected by the closure, it’s only going to exacerbate the problems we are already having with passing trade.”