Part of the Felixstowe Pier flooring has collapsed from possible weather damage.

ENGINEERS are today due to assess the damage at Felixstowe’s pier after a hole opened in the floor of an unused part of the building.

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The main pier amusement arcade remains open as usual, and pier boss Stan Threadwell said he was confident the damage to part of the floor in the bingo hall could be repaired.

The bingo hall has not been used for two years, and a section of the floor fell away on Saturday night after one of the pillars supporting it on the shingle shifted slightly.

Mr Threadwell said the problem was not caused by any weather conditions. He thought a void had opened up under one of the pillars in the shingle and this had caused it to settle.

He said: “We have structural engineers who are coming to look at this on Monday but I think it will be something that we can deal with. It should be covered by insurance.”

The pier pillars have recently been strengthened, and Mr Threadwell said there was no problem with the rest of the building.

He is currently working on proposals to improve the amusement centre and hopes to get the go-ahead from Suffolk Coastal for a major upgrade of the site in the new year.

“The area that was affected by this has not been used for two or three years so from that point of view it is not a major issue for us but we’ve got the engineers coming in and they will advise us on what needs to be done.”

He said it appeared that the pillars did not go that deeply into the shingle and that could have been the issue.

And he stressed that the incident had nothing to do with the fears over the jetty of the pier that caused that to be closed to the public many years ago.