Another nail has been driven into the coffin of the derelict West Pier.

St Modwen, the London-based property company, has pulled out of the restoration project.

It had planned to work with the West Pier Trust to build a development at the shore end of the pier.

The trust hoped the commercial project would help fund the restoration of the Grade I listed structure.

There was strong public opposition to the development being built either side of the pier entrance.

St Modwen yesterday confirmed it had ended its partnership with the trust.

The trust, which still believes the pier has a future, will have to search for another private developer to build a shoreline development if it is to carry on with the project.

St Modwen decided to pull the plug on the West Pier after last month's announcement that English Heritage, the Government backed conservation body, had declared the pier beyond repair.

English Heritage's announcement meant it would no longer support a publicly funded restoration package with the trust. A grant of £14 million had been promised.

West Pier Trust chief executive Dr Geoffrey Lockwood said: "Following English Heritage's announcement, we believed it was inevitable that St Modwen would end its involvement with the project.

"Without the backing of heritage funds, they felt they could no longer be involved.

"St Modwen has put a lot of time and money into trying to come up with a development that could save the West Pier.

"We are grateful for what St Modwen has done and we are now looking at other private developers to come up with a scheme which we believe can save the pier."

Dr Lockwood believes that if St Modwen and the trust had been allowed to go ahead with a redevelopment scheme, the pier, which was further damaged by storms last month, could have been saved.

The Noble Organisation, which has spent millions restoring the Palace Pier, held up the restoration plans with legal challenges on grounds of unfair competition.

Noble said it was unfair that public money was to be made available to one pier but not the other.

Plans are now being drawn up for clearing the dangerous structure of the West Pier.

It is estimated the cost could be more than £3 million.

Tuesday August 10, 2004