Council pledge to repair huge hole in Hartlepool pier this week

The crater developed on Middleton Pier off the coast, leading to damage to some of the pier’s structure.

Barriers have been put up advising people not to go near the area for their own safety.

Hartlepool Borough Council says work has already begun to repair the pier, which should be back in its former state by the end of the week.

Town man Chris Naylor took these pictures of the hole after he came across it while out walking.

“I was out taking pictures when I saw what had happened,” said the 43-year-old, of the Fens.

“I don’t normally walk along the pier but then I saw how bad this looked.
“It’s about three or four feet deep and I think if people walked on it, it would collapse even further.

“The council have put a sign up warning people about going along there and hopefully it gets sorted soon because it’s quite dangerous for anyone walking past.

“It must have happened because the weather has been so bad recently.

“When I was down there, there were still a few people on the pier fishing so they must have got past it somehow.”

A Hartlepool Borough Council spokesman said: “The damage was caused when rough seas over the Easter weekend displaced one of the large blocks at the base of the sea wall.

“This left the pier structure exposed to the sea and as a result sand and stone was washed away, resulting in the collapse of the flagstones on the pier top.

“This created a hole some two metres wide and some four metres long. Contractors began work today to repair the damage.

“This will involve pumping some 20 cubic metres into the hole before reinstating the flagstones. It is expected that the work will be completed by the end of the week.”