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From The Times
February 5, 2003

Inferno at the end of the pier

By A Correspondent
THE Palace Pier has always been regarded as the brasher of Brighton’s two piers.

Its owner, the Noble Organisation, renamed it Brighton Pier in 2000, even though its crumbling rival, the West Pier, is Britain’s only Grade I listed pier.

The Palace Pier opened in 1899 and within two years an oriental pavilion had been added, housing a 1,500-seat concert hall. It became a popular entertainment venue and home to a funfair, slot machines and peepshows, featuring in the novel and film Brighton Rock.

In the Second World War the middle section of the pier was removed and the deck heavily mined. It reopened in 1946 and prospered, but fell into disrepair by the 1980s.

Noble bought the pier in 1984 and renovated it, running it as a successful commercial operation ever since. The pier now attracts more than 3½ million tourists each year.

However, Noble has been a leading objector to aspects of the West Pier’s restoration and is blamed by some for delays that may be even more damaging to its rival than last night’s fire was to the Palace Pier.

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