Southport Pier remains closed after freezing weather

Southport Pier remains closed after it was deemed unsafe by the Council two weeks ago due to the freezing weather.

All the entrances to the Pier are fenced off apart from a small section by Funland.

Two weeks ago the Council said...

A spokesperson for Sefton Council said: “Council officers and contractors had hoped to ensure the Pier remained open to the public during these works.

“However the current extremely cold weather, which has seen temperatures so low that the sea at Ainsdale and Birkdale froze in places, has caused additional damage to the decking.

“Moisture within the planks and joists has frozen causing the decking to lift away from its fixings and we are concerned this could present a safety issue to anyone attempting to walk down the pier.

“The decking has also become incredibly slippery, meaning it is treacherous to walk on.

“While we do not take this decision lightly, the temporary closure of Southport Pier is wholly necessary to keep people safe.

“We fully appreciate this may come as a blow to concessionaires on and around the pier however we are confident that they, like the council, would not want anyone to be put at risk of harm by venturing onto the pier in current conditions.”

Regular inspections
Southport Pier will reopen as soon as it is safe to do so. Regular inspections will take place and updates will be shared in due course.

The owners of the concessions who are rightly frustrated said on their Facebook page...

To all of our wonderful customers and followers,
We have had many messages today asking whether the pier will re open now the ice has melted, as the news articles stated was the problem.

Or rather irritating the problem that was already in hand. The pier has been being refurbished and re boarded daily since June. This is an ongoing project and we anticipated remaining open and the works being done in sections.

To avoid the loss of public enjoyment and of course jobs. Now this seems to not be the case given the recent news. It was already hard enough having to deal with the loss of our road train this season.
Unfortunately, this matter is out of our hands and we cannot answer questions as we have no answers at present.

We are as frustrated as you all. Our poor (amazing) staff are losing their minds too.
We had so many plans for the next season. To invest in the pier and the outside offering. Deck chairs, planters, more food and drink offer. But after this current setback and just recovering from covid loss these plans are yet again going to have to wait.  

If you have any questions, comments or concerns about the issue please direct them to Sefton Council tourism as they can answer more than we can.

Thanks for your continued support .

The Council has been approached for comment.