A millionaire property developer has vowed to save the historic West Pier. Mike Holland plans to transform the crumbling structure into a modern attraction for families with young children. He has called on the West Pier Trust to step aside and allow him to restore the iconic pier.

Mr Holland is a well-known business figure in the city and also owns the Astoria in Gloucester Place, Brighton - which will soon be demolished and transformed into a media hub - and the British Engineerium in Hove.

He told The Argus he will work with Angus Meek Architects, the firm behind the £39 million rebuild of the pier at Weston super Mare. It is the only pier to have been constructed in theUK for more than 100 years.

He estimates the West Pier scheme would cost between £20 million to £25 million. Mr Holland said: “My interest in the West Pier is simple. I have lived in Brighton for 46 years and I love the city.

“I have watched people wearing Save The West Pier badges since the 1970s which, apart from raising awareness, has achieved nothing of any use as can be seen from the structure we have today. “I have not bothered to intervene before because I have always been hopeful somebody else will step up to the plate.

“Unfortunately, this has not happened and while I am busy with the British Engineerium and other projects I would like to see a replacement pier in place of the existing pile of rusting iron in my lifetime.”

He added: “As I am now in my 60s I feel that if I am going to play a part in sorting this mess out, I had better get on with it.

“The year 2016 is a very important milestone for the West Pier as it will be 150 years since it was built and if I amt o take it on and head up the project I would want to see it well and truly up and running in its new form before then.

“It is my intention that the British Engineerium Trust will take the lead role and oversee the entire project from start to finish ensuring our city, once again, has a second pier to be proud of. “ We are respectfully asking the well-meaning members of the West Pier Trust to step aside and let us get on with it so no further time is wasted.

“We are thinking (it would cost) in the ball park of £20 million to £25 million and we will not use bank lending. We are people of means.”

The pavilion at the West Pier was destroyed in a fire in March 2003, and the concert hall was burnt out two months later. The West Pier Trust, set up in 1978, is tasked with preserving the structure. Last year, Mr Holland appeared on Channel 4’s Secret Millionaire and he is also a patron of Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice at Poling, near Arundel.

He has leased Stanmer House out to an upmarket restaurant operator. The 140-year-old Engineerium is undergoing a major refurbishment to transform it into a landmark venue.

Asked if he was interested in making an offer to buy the Palace Pier from the Noble Organisation, Mr Holland said: “Not at all."