The revival of Brighton's seafront between the piers has been one of the biggest success stories for the resort in the last decade.

All that time, council bosses have said the restoration of the West Pier would be the icing on the cake.

Four years ago, when the West Pier Trust was awarded £14 million from the National Lottery, it seemed all its troubles were over.

But it soon became clear the only way of getting private enterprise interested in the restoration was the construction of large buildings on the Lower Promenade each side of the pier.

Two private sector partners have come and gone during that time. Now the third, St Modwen, has produced drawings of what these buildings could look like.

The size and scale of them will shock some people. They will make a radical difference to that part of the seafront.

They do not affect views of the pier from Regency Square but they will alter the character of the seafront on each side.

These drawings do not have to be the final design. There are other ways in which the buildings can be erected. But they do have to be of roughly that size to make the pier project viable.

They could add to the vitality of the seafront but they will also be a dominant feature. Deciding whether to approve them will be a tricky question for the city council.

They will create some commercial and architectural precedents in a sensitive part of the seafront. But without them there will be no revived pier.