Southend Pier forced to close following accident
A fishing trawler crashed into Southend Pier damaging part of the walkway and forcing the pier to close.
The council told a local radio station that the accident
happened some time between last night (Thursday February 16th) and
this morning.
An eyewitness told BBC News that the boat hit the pier about
a quarter-of-a-mile off shore.
It will be closed for the rest of the day so engineers
can assess the damage.
Southend Pier is the world’s longest pleasure pier,
measuring over 1.3m long, and is a Grade II listed building. It’s the second time in six months that the pier has been
struck by a vessel. In September a barge was blown into the pier during high
winds.
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