CALLS are being made to try every option possible to save the West Pier and preserve it as a work of art on its 150th birthday.

Best-selling crime author Peter James, whose novels focus on Brighton and its landmarks, said he would "love" to see the structure preserved in its current form.

Polly Toynbee, the Guardian columnist and chairman of the Brighton Festival, urged the city to "hold on to what it has got", adding: "If rebuilding it is not an option, we should save it and try to shore it up as much as we can."

Architect Paul Zara, of Conran and Partners, said: "What I'd really like is to record what is there now and maybe have a hologram of the structure appearing at night."

Brighton-based sculptor Jo Sweeting suggested the remains were enclosed in glass with a viewing platform around it.

The pier first opened to the public on October 6, 1866 and after a long and successful period it fell into disrepair and was destroyed by two fires.

After losing backing from English Heritage and dipping into debt, the West Pier Trust - which owns the structure and surrounding land - said it has little hope of restoring the original. It has rusted into a ruin and is gradually collapsing into the sea.

Trust chief executive Rachel Clark instead has ideas for a new pier on the site - something which she says the arrival of the i360 will help to make possible. She has encouraged interested developers to come forward and wants to see it in place by 2026.

Meanwhile police renewed calls for any information which could solve the cause of two fires which ravaged the pier in 2003. No suspects were ever identified and no-one was charged.

Detective constable Duncan Chalmers, who worked on Sussex Police’s investigations into the fires, voiced his frustration at struggling to crack the case so far.

He said: "It was quite high profile at the time of course. Especially from a police officer’s point of view, you always think it would have been something like arson, but there was never the evidence to support that."

"It lies on file as suspected arson and was even at one stage thought to have been caused by self-combusting bird faeces which collected on the site. A fire service spokesman yesterday ruled this out as "highly unlikely".

The news comes as it emerged someone identifying themselves as Piers Burns phoned the fire brigade to alert them to the blaze.

The pier will be illuminated tonight and tomorrow night from 6pm until midnight. Tickets are available for i360 flights during the spectacle.

Ms Clark said: "I'm really excited about the anniversary and we are making a justifiably big splash about it. We are keen to thank our trust members who have been incredibly supportive over the years.

Former Great British Bake Off contestant Kate Henry has made a cake in the shape of a West Pier kiosk which will be presented to trust members at a birthday party.

Ms Henry will flavour the cake with cardamom, saffron, orange, cinnamon, ginger and cover it in raspberry icing with several different layers.

She said: "It is designed to be broadly a replica of one of the kiosks. They are subtle layers and it is low in sugar."