A £4 million restoration of the city’s historic seafront lanterns is set to begin in the coming weeks.

The council is working with Historic England to preserve the cast iron lamps, replicas of the original lanterns which dated back to 1893.

Many of the lanterns have been removed after they were found to be in a dangerous condition after decades of damage from exposure to the elements.

Five columns of the lights will be removed and sent away for repair and restoration in the first phase of returning the 83 lanterns to their former glory.

Brighton and Hove City Council aims to have the columns restored by the spring and is working with Historic England to restore the columns, brackets and lanterns in a way to “preserve their historic look and feel”.

The entire project is expected to cost around £4 million, funded by the council’s carbon neutral fund, capital funding and money from a project to install LED lights in the city’s streetlights.

Restoration work is expected to begin later this autumn and will take up to four years to complete.

The Argus: All of the lanterns will be restored to their former glory over the next four yearsAll of the lanterns will be restored to their former glory over the next four years (Image: The Argus)

Cllr Alan Robins, chairman of the council’s culture, heritage, sport, tourism and economic development committee, said: “A project which began in 2020 to restore the city’s iconic seafront lighting back to its former glory is entering an exciting new phase.

“The first five columns will be removed and sent away for repair and restoration this autumn. In all, we’ll be restoring more than 80 which have been damaged by decades of exposure to the harsh, salty weather conditions.

“We’ve been working with Historic England to ensure the columns, brackets and lanterns are restored in a way which preserves their historic look and feel.

“They’ve given us their approval for restoring the first five columns which includes using original designs, manufacturing techniques and, where possible, materials.

“We have a contractor on board now and are busy planning the restoration programme which is aimed to be completed next spring.

“They will remove the columns to transported to specialist manufacturers before being handed back and placed back in their original positions.”