Romance and beauty are words sadly no longer associated with Brighton's now derelict West Pier.

The magic of the pier throughout the last century has been consigned to history as fires and storms have wrecked the structure.

But local film-makers plan to reveal footage of the pier as it once was in a revolutionary new documentary.

Peerless, Memories from the West Pier, will be screened for the first time at 7pm on Saturday at the Holiday Inn, Kings Road, Brighton. It will show locals and visitors what everyday life on the pier was like.

Using archival photographs and footage, along with recreations, Peerless charts the pier in its heyday from the Thirties to the Sixties.

Highlights of the 15-minute film include dramatisations of local residents Bert and Dorothy Fagan discovering romance, the innocence and joy of a young Michael Robins as he played on the pier and the Great Omani's death-defying stunts.

Director Daniel Parkes said: "When I arrived in Brighton six months ago I was intrigued by the mass of twisted metal in the middle of the ocean.

"I thought that while most people pass by without a second glance, there must be some residents who have fond and interesting memories of the pier."

Producer Fareed Khimani said: "With the proposed construction of the Brighton i360 we felt it was important to relive some of the joy that the West Pier brought to the residents of Brighton and Hove."

Speakers on the night of the premiere will include Mayor of Brighton and Hove Bob Carden. Local historian and tour guide Michael Robins, former custodian of Hove's St Andrew's Church, will be compere. There will also be a question and answer session with the producer and director.

Earlier this month The Argus reported plans for a 600ft seafront tower, called the Brighton i360, in the latest scheme to save the rusting pier.

Owners of the West Pier invited the team behind the London Eye to build a sky-rise observation tower with a pod carrying up to 100 people which would rise up the tower.

The trust has spent the past two years searching for a 100 per cent private sector-funded scheme which would balance the restoration of the pier and also create an attraction which would be a future heritage site.