Blackpool piers win share of £750,000 funding

North Pier is Grade II listed

Blackpool's three piers are on a list of global heritage sites set to share in a $1m (£750,000) cash pot.

The World Monuments Fund (WMF) has included the resort on a list of endangered cultural sites which will receive grants.

The three piers, which are owned by Peter Sedgwick, were put on the WMF's 'at risk' list in October.

It is not yet known how much they will receive but the £750,000 will be split between eight global sites.

The Big Wheel was first installed on Central Pier in 1990

The WMF said the 19th Century piers were under threat from rising sea levels and extreme weather.

As the piers are privately owned, the organisation said they were ineligible to receive public funding for refurbishment.

It said the money will be used for the owners to work with local groups to "explore new models for their rehabilitation".

The piers will share the £750,000 funding with:

• Potager du Roi in Versailles, France

• Grand Theater of Prince Kung's Mansion in Beijing, China

• The town of Amatrice, Italy

• Kagawa Prefectural Gymnasium in Takamatsu, Japan

• Tebaida Leonesa in Leon, Spain

• Matobo Hills Cultural Landscape in Matobo, Zimbabwe

• Monte Alban Archaeological Site in Oaxaca, Mexico

Blackpool's piers

• The Grade II listed North Pier opened in 1863 and is the oldest remaining example of a pier designed by celebrated seaside architect Eugenius Birch. It suffered substantial storm damage in 2013

• Central Pier followed in 1868. A 33m-high (108ft) Ferris wheel known as the Big Wheel was installed in 1990

• South Pier, originally called Victoria Pier, is the youngest of the three structures, opening in 1893