Tourists react to Brighton Palace Pier new entry fee

Visitors to the city now have to pay £1 each to get on the pier at peak times and must pay stewards at the entrance for their tickets. 

The entry fee began today and is in place for all of the half-term week, every weekend in June and throughout July and August.

On Saturday, Angela Thornley and Roger Hare were visiting Brighton for the first time in a few years.

Angela Thornley and Roger Hare were shocked by the admission fee (Image: The Argus)

Angela, from Banstead, Surrey, said: “I think it’s awful. I haven’t been to Brighton for a while but I was very shocked to see it.

“A pier is part of English heritage and it should be free to access.”

Roger, from Partridge Green, near Henfield, added: “You have to pay for the things you want once you’re on there.”

• READ MORE: Everything you need to know about the Brighton Palace Pier entry fee

The admission fee does not apply to nearby residents who have a Brighton Palace Pier local resident’s card or children under the age of two.

Roger lives just three miles outside the BN postcode area, but anyone with a BN postcode is eligible, meaning the offer extends to people living as far away as Eastbourne and Arundel.

Short queues formed at the entrance at 12.30pm today as people got tickets to enter the pier (Image: The Argus)

The last time people had to pay to enter the pier was in 1984, when the entry fee was 20p. That year, new management made the attraction free to visit.

Elisa Kujansuu and her partner Niilo Jurvanen, from Finland, said they were “surprised” to see the entry fee.

It was their first time visiting Brighton and they were down for the day while staying in London.

Elisa said: “£1 is not bad. If it goes towards the upkeep then it is fine.”

Elisa Kujansuu and her partner Niilo Jurvanen were visiting Brighton for the first time (Image: The Argus)

 “It is good they take cash and card as we don’t have cash,” Niilo added.

This year marks the pier’s 125th anniversary and the costs of maintaining the Victorian structure have risen substantially.

The Brighton Pier Group (BPG), which runs Brighton Palace Pier, said the cost of maintaining, repairing and operating it has increased 31 per cent in the last five years.

This amounts to an extra £2.7 million, taking the overall annual cost to a massive £11.6 million.

Melissa, left, and her friend Charlene (Image: The Argus)

Melissa and her friend Charlene, from Germany, said the fee seemed “pointless”.

“We have not seen an admission fee like this for similar attractions,” Melissa said.

“I don’t really see the sense behind it. You have to pay for everything once you get on it.”

On announcing the fee earlier this month, Anne Ackord, CEO of Brighton Palace Pier, said: “We see ourselves as the custodians of the pier. Many of our team, me included, live and work in Brighton and we understand first hand the importance of the pier in our city.

"The pier is a substantial structure and in recent years the costs associated with maintaining and operating it to the same high levels of upkeep, strength and structural integrity, have increased significantly.

"The admission fee will be an important contributor to ensuring that our iconic pier is with us for generations to come.”