Clacton: Pier of the Year accolade for Essex town's 'beating heart'

Clacton Pier has been named Pier of the Year

Clacton's pier has been named Pier of the Year in what its director called a "perfect morale booster" at "an incredibly difficult time".

The Essex resort's pier, built in 1871, reopened to the public on Saturday as lockdown measures were eased.

The seaside attraction pipped Clevedon and Brighton Palace piers to the 2020 National Piers Society accolade.

Director Billy Ball said the award was "the icing on the cake" for the attraction after a £4m upgrade.

Clacton boasts the largest pleasure pier in Europe by surface area, according to the society, covering 6.5 acres (26,300 sq m).

It was lengthened to 1,180ft (360m) in 1893 when it also got its first theatre - which has survived at the seaward end.

Clacton and its pier pictured in 1929

Beachgoers at Clacton Pier are entertained by Ronnie Collis as Charlie Chaplin in 1970

Clacton Pier was the brainchild of Peter Bruff, the Victorian entrepreneur behind the development of the Essex town itself.

It was originally intended as a landing stage for passing boats but proved a great attraction to tourists.

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The pier was bought in 1922 by Ernest Kingsman, who added theatres, a dance hall and Britain's only open-air swimming pool on a pier.

Until lockdown restrictions in March, Clacton Pier drew a million visitors a year.

A packed Clacton Pier photographed in 1978

When brothers Billy and Elliot Ball bought the structure in 2009, just a third of its space was in use.

It now boasts a helter-skelter and two-tier adventure golf course but the planned addition of a new rollercoaster and log flume has been postponed until next year.

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Billy Ball said: "This has been an incredibly difficult time for all 61 piers around the country and to pick up the award is the perfect morale booster for us.

"To top the list ahead of such great attractions as Brighton's Palace Pier is a real accolade and will spur us on to even greater things."

The popular pier is undergoing £4m of improvements

Tim Wardley, chairman of the National Piers Society, said: "Seaside piers have long been prime generators of inward investment to the resorts they serve and are the beating hearts of seaside communities.

"The millions of pounds invested in Clacton Pier by Billy and Elliot Ball are a demonstration of their commitment to both the tourist industry and their home town."