1 day Ago
Bosses at a restaurant on a pier say they are “struggling” and “disheartened” after vital repairs to the structure were further delayed. The Perch on the Pier team had hoped they would be able to reopen this week but repairs to Worthing Pier have been pushed back by bad weather. The pier has been closed since October 20 when structural damage to its supports, believed to have been caused by debris from a storm, was found.
Contractors have been racing to complete the work during the spring low tide window which was forecast to end last evening, however “strong winds and driving rain” have “cut the length of the low tides” this week, meaning repairs remain incomplete . Worthing Borough Council hopes that the work can be completed from above the pier next week. But in a statement, Perch, which has other sites in Lancing, Worthing and Eastbourne, said the hold-up was “profoundly disheartening”.
“We are optimistic people, and we’ve been delighted to follow the enormous structure that emerged from the sea surrounding the pier,” the statement on social media said. “Today’s news is profoundly disheartening. We’ve spoken to the council and expect to learn more about the final stages of repair in the next 24 hours.
Right now, we’re grappling with this setback. “We are struggling with this. At our core, we are a business that looks after people, and we loathe letting anyone down.
Not living up to the promise is the antithesis of hospitality. We need a little time to figure out where this leaves us and what we can offer to our team and guests. “We will contact all bookings for this weekend and look at the following weekend when we receive the engineering updates.
I’m confident we’ll get there, but we are gutted not to be back on the pier this week.” People are still being asked not to go under the pier or attempt to go on it. A spokesman for Adur and Worthing councils said: “We’re disappointed that we’re not going to get the project completed this week but are proud of the great effort put in by our engineers and our contractors to get us to this point.
“Rest assured, we’re doing everything we can to reopen the pier safely as soon as possible.”.
