Fleetwood Pier, an Edwardian coastal gem fallen on hard times, has been destroyed by a fire that broke out early yesterday, swiftly consuming the boardwalk.

The pier, which was built a century ago to turn the fishing port into a watering hole to rival Blackpool, its garish neighbour, had been boarded up awaiting a long-delayed redevelopment.

The blaze, which started shortly before 4.30am, took hold in buildings close to the promenade and spread rapidly, driven by the prevailing wind along the structure, which stretches out into the Wyre Estuary.

At its height more than 70 firefighters tackled huge plumes of fire and smoke, some from aerial ladders, with water pumped from the town’s boating lake. By lunchtime much of the historic pier was left an ugly tangle of twisted ironwork and some smouldering timbers.

The firefighters decided early on that it was a hopeless, and possibly dangerous, task to try to save the pier. They concentrated their resources on a defensive action to ensure that it did not spread to nearby seafront buildings.

The fire service has started an investigation into the causes of the fire, which include the possibility of arson. Residents in the seaside town have complained in recent weeks that the disused pier had become a magnet for vandals.

Kyran Ronson, of Lancashire Fire and Rescue, said: “We were never going to save it. It was a public safety issue. We were concentrating on controlling the fire. I am sure that by the time we have finished, it will need knocking down. The whole of the structure above the concrete and cast-iron supports is destroyed.”

Fleetwood Pier was built by the Fleetwood Victoria Pier company for £30,000 and opened on Whit Monday in 1910. In its pomp it boasted an ornate oriental pavilion, five bars, a nightclub, a fish and chip shop and a 330ft jetty. A cinema, which became the haunt for courting couples, was added in 1942. This building was the seat of a fire in August 1952 that destroyed the pier, which was rebuilt almost immediately. The structure has passed through a number of hands in recent years until it was acquired by Mike Simmons, a professional comedian who performs in Blackpool under his stage name Joey Blower.

He drew up plans to turn the pier into 85 apartments, turning the end of the pier into a communal garden. The plans attracted strong objections from residents. Eric Smallman, 43, who runs the Savoy Hotel near by, said: “Lots of local residents were concerned something like this would happen. It was boarded up in the past few days and I have heard this morning that kids were in there last night.

“It has not been a nice pier to look at and needed something doing with it, but it would have been nice to bring it back into use”.

In July fire also destroyed most of the 104-year-old Grand Pier at Weston-super-Mare, in Somerset, including its Grade II listed pavilion building.

Tim Phillips, the chairman of the National Piers Society, described the latest fire as another sad day for piers. The blaze attracted a large crowd of onlookers, who spoke nostalgically about how important the structure was to their childhoods.

Suzie Bailey, a Fleetwood resident, told the Blackpool Gazette: “This pier is my life. We have played here as children. We have brought our children here and we wanted to preserve it for generations to come”.

The majestic West Pier in Brighton, built in 1866, was regarded widely as a masterpiece, but it was also lost to fire in 2003 and its fate was sealed by storms and bureaucratic delays.

Brighton Palace Pier, which was featured in the 1971 Carry on film, Carry on at Your Convenience, survived a large fire in 2003.

Part of Southend Pier, famed as the longest pleasure pier in the world, toppled into the Thames Estuary when fire damaged its structure for the fourth time in 50 years in October 2005. The flames buckled the railway and damaged the railway station, but the structure has reopened since.

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