THE Palace sign is finally being put back on our pier.

Workers were on Brighton seafront yesterday putting the brightly coloured illuminated letters in place, a move residents have been awaiting for years.

Owner Luke Johnson, who bought the pier two years ago, made the popular decision to put the Palace back and call it Brighton Palace Pier.

The Argus led a passionate 17-year campaign to keep the original name.

Mark Eteen, pier duty manager, said: “We are very excited and as a Brightonian myself this is something that we have been waiting for.”

The new sign will light up in different colours.

It was designed by Lucy Williams, 48, of Fiveways, Brighton, who was chosen as the winner from hundreds of entries.

It is not yet known when the works will be finished and the name will be, literally, up in lights.

The pier has been at the heart of the city for almost 120 years.

It is the country’s most popular free tourist attraction outside London.

According to a survey by Visit Britain, more than 4.6 million visitors went on the pier in 2016.

At the turn of the millennium, the previous owners The Noble Organisation removed the Palace Pier sign and replaced it with Brighton Pier.

The move outraged residents but Noble stuck to its guns, saying the change was important for marketing and business purposes.

Councillors, MPs and celebrities joined public criticism of Noble, saying it had made a terrible error.

The Argus refused to recognise the new name and continued to refer to it as the Palace Pier.

When Mr Johnson bought it for £18 million in April 2016, The Argus immediately contacted him and asked if he would change the name.

Brighton Palace Pier was opened on May 20, 1899, and cost £137,000 to build.

It was nearly destroyed before it was finished.

During a storm in 1896, timber from another pier repeatedly slammed into the new structure, causing substantial damage.

In 1998 the National Piers Society named it Pier of the Year.

It has featured in the films Carry On At Your Convenience, The Persuaders and the 2007 film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street as well as the TV show Cuffs in 2015.