The original fee was introduced last May sparking fury from locals and visitors – but it will now be doubled to help with maintenance costs.
One of the UK’s best loved piers will soon double its entry fee after announcing the original fare last year.
Admission to Brighton Palace Pier will cost £2 from March 8, going up from the £1 introduced in May 2024.
Its owners, The Brigh ton Pier Group PLC, put the inflated fee down to
Maintenance costs in particular had shot up by more than a third in recent years, they said. The cost of operaring the pier also soared from £8.9 million to £11.6 million in five years.
The owners said: “The admission fee is critical in helping to meet the unique challenges and costs of preserving the pier’s structural integrity, as well as continuing to remain as an all-year-round attraction.
“We will continue to invest in the maintenance of this, the finest of all piers and an integral part of the Brighton and Hove landscape.”
The new, doubled fee will be in place until the end of September and includes a £1 voucher to spend on the pier. Those with a Brighton Palace Pier local residents card, something that 20,000 people signed up tp last year, will not need to pay.
When the admission cost was originally introduced, CEO of the pier Anne Ackord, hailed it as an “important” step in ensuring its future.
She said: “The admission fee will be an important contributor to ensuring that our iconic pier is with us for generations to come.
“The pier is a substantial structure and in recent years, the costs associated with maintaining and operating it to the same high levels of upkeep, strength and structural integrity, have increased significantly.
“We have, to date, been able to offset and absorb these costs, but we have now reached the point where, in our view, it is sensible to implement a small admission charge for visitors to the pier from outside the local area.”
The announcement in May last year drew the anger of local residents and visitors in a Facebook group.
One said: “What a load of tosh they speak, basically they are charging you to sit in the sun on the pier, thats the tall n short of it all, I travelled around the country and every pier I’ve vistied is free !!”
Another said: “It’s getting too expensive Brighton for what it is I was down there last week with my son fish and chips on the pier £45 and another £17 parking plus the fuel going down there I think I’ll give Brighton a miss from now on.”
