BRIGHTON'S West Pier has been saved by £14 million grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

At least £10 million will be added by private sector partners of the owners, the Brighton West Pier Trust. The Grade I listed building, dating from 1866, will be restored by the spring of 2001. But it should be possible for people to walk on the deck in time to celebrate the millennium as the trust always intended. The pier received £1 million from the Lottery for emergency repairs in 1996, but it has taken almost two years for today's grants to be approved. Plans will now be prepared for the restoration which is likely to include upmarket restaurants, bars, entertainment, shops and possibly a small hotel. The pier will be restored to how it looked in its heyday 70 years ago. But there will be additional buildings at Lower Esplanade level. Today's news ends 30 years of decline for the pier which has often been in danger of demolition. Heritage Lottery chairman Lord Rothschild said: "Our grant will be helping to restore a great national treasure. "We have long wished to restore this pier and at last a scheme has been devised which we feel confident in supporting." Oliver Peyton, of Gruppo, one of the private firms involved in restoration, said: "Our plan is to create a unique all-year-round and internationally-acclaimed destination resort on the English coast." Trust chairman Admiral Sir Lindsay Bryson said: "It is a marvellous day for us. We have got all that we wanted. "But at this moment of exhilaration we should thank all the people who made it possible." Trust chief executive Dr Geoff Lockwood said: "The restoration of the pier and the high-style activities it will host will add 21st century fizz to the the traditional Brighton buzz. "The real work starts now. We have not climbed Everest but have secured the finance necessary for the climb." Brighton and Hove Council leader Lord Bassam said: "This is a momentous announcement. It is hard to convey the excitement this award will create locally. "Our historic seafront has been transformed with big investments of private and public money, but a renovated West Pier will be the crowning glory. "As an internationally famous building, it will also signal Brighton and Hove's renaissance to the rest of the world." Tourism chairman Ian Duncan said: "Its impact on tourism should be significant, providing a boost for hotels, shops, restaurants and other attractions." Pavilion MP David Lepper said: "I hope that really substantial work can get under way during the summer before the winter storms. "This news is great for the pier. It is also important for jobs and the economy and a boost to the tourist trade. It is a great gift for the millennium." Kemp Town MP Des Turner said: "How glad I am that David Lepper will soon have a pier up and running just like the one I have in my constituency." One condition of the grant is that new building on the site will be open to competition from architects to ensure that there is high quality design.

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