EXPERTS have warned the West Pier could be gone in five years as another piece of the historic structure collapsed yesterday.

A piece of the western upper deck fell at about midday having been on the receiving end of Storm Imogen the last few days.

The West Pier Trust has warned the collapse could lead to more damage while experts told The Argus it could be completely gone in the next five to ten years.

Jon Orrell, the Trust's consultant engineer, said: “It will probably not be recognisable in five to ten years and the collapse is something we have had many years to prepare for.

“It is just inevitable. We did make some predictions about how long it will last for, it has lasted much longer than we expected – but it can only take so much.”

Since its closure in 1975 the pier has fallen into disrepair and has suffered major collapses in 2002 before two fires in 2003.

The Argus: The West Pier on Wednesday.  Picture: David McHugh

The Argus: The West Pier yesterday after the collapse.  Picture: David McHugh

The collapse was spotted yesterday afternoon by the team at British Airways i360 – which is being constructed opposite the West Pier.

The last major collapse occurred more than two years ago when a number of main support struts on the east side of the pier fell into the sea.

Frequent salvage operations are carried out to clear away any pieces of metal that have fallen into the sea.

Rachel Clarke, chief executive of the Trust, confirmed a small section of the central part of the pier had collapsed and warned it could lead to further damage.

However, she said it was not a surprise to see the structure continue to collapse following the Storm Imogen which saw winds of up 70mph batter the Sussex coast.

Ms Clarke said: “We are being very cautious but we have always made very clear the structure is unmaintained and is very vulnerable to strong winds like Imogen.

“When nothing happened we were surprised and it has taken a little bit more time for the collapse to happen.

"The West Pier does not have a long term future when you get massive storms like we had Monday.”