Take a look at the Wellington Pier and the first thing you think instead of entertainment is dereliction. There are weeds everywhere, broken windows, peeling paint and smashed masonry. In one corner where a building has fallen into disrepair and subsequently attacked by vandals, there now lies used syringes and part-used bottles of insulin. It's hard to believe this is a prime site on the town's Golden Mile, but work is beginning to change things. Bert Coe is the manager of the pier, which was taken over by Family Amusements after the entertainer Jim Davidson pulled out two seasons ago. He says it will be vastly improved by the time the hoardings come down in February. "You'll have a family amusement centre here which will then lead us on to phase three," he said. "The first phase is to obviously shut this off from the tourists of Great Yarmouth because really I think, as a boarded site it is much more beneficial not to see what we can see at the moment as it's a very sad site. "The initial works are to flatten what we've got and get the foundations ready for October when we can begin the building up work. "We're anticipating that by February of next year we'll be able to start refurbishing it," he added. Taking charge of the project for Family Amusements is Elm Contracts - and its workers are now on site putting up hoardings to protect tourists from the dust and noise. Michael Fleming, the director of Elm Contracts, explained the work will happen step-by-step. "Firstly, we've got the demolition," he said. "We've got to strip down some the buildings and the toilets that run underneath the pier - demolishing and stripping it down to excavation level. "Then a steel frame will be going in with a beam floor to get the levels correct for the pier at the other end," he added. | 
View 
