A PURPOSE built crane has moved into position as work begins to rebuild the dilapidated Totland Pier.

As previously reported by the County Press, the building project is expected to take three months.

Contractor Clynt Wellington, of Pilcot Construction, working on behalf of the owners, said: "The initial phase is underway. The lattice beams have all been pre-made and our crane will drop them into place as it moves along the pier.

"It is a bit like the way the old railway tracks were laid.

"This means there will be no scaffolding and no unloading from barges, making the job much simpler."

There is planning permission for a house to be built at the end of the pier and the cafe will also be rebuilt, probably next winter.

Public access will be permitted as soon as possible once health and safety restrictions have been lifted.

The pier was originally built in 1880, but the structure fell into serious decline and finally closed to the public in 1980 when it was declared unsafe.

In the 1990s the pier was purchased by a local artist who converted the hut at the end of the pier into a studio.

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