Up to £100,000 in cash is thought to have been melted and

mangled in the blaze which destroyed the pavilion at

Weston-super-Mare's Grand Pier.

Firefighters say the 1,000C fire which ripped through the

pavilion early on Monday, destroying all 370 amusement machines

housed there, has left the coins inside either melted or fused

together by the heat.

But the pier's safes, rumoured to contain around £200,000,

are believed to have survived the blaze, although no-one has

been able to reach them to confirm the contents are intact.

Avon Fire and Rescue's Weston-super-Mare station manager,

Malcolm Jenkins, spoke out after rumours circulated that pound

coins had been found on the beach having fallen from the

burning pier, sparking a “treasure hunt” by scavengers.

He warned people to stay away from the blaze site, which has

a 300-metre exclusion zone.

The pier is being patrolled around the clock by police and

private security guards.

Mr Jenkins said if coins had survived the heat many would

have been melted together and people should not searching for

them.

He said: “Some of the coins inside the machines would have

melted, some would have stuck together depending on where they

were.

“The safes are intact and one has fallen though the floor

and is suspended on the support underneath the pier. But none

of the safes have fallen into the sea.

“We strongly recommend that no one speculates about money

falling into the sea and gets the idea they can go along and

pick up money.

“There is nothing there.

“The structure of the pier is extremely hazardous and no one

should think about trying to get underneath it.”

Some 70 of the machines destroyed in the fire had been added

in recent months as part of a multi-million pound improvement

scheme being carried out by the pier's new owners, brother and

sister Kerry and Michelle Michael.

The Michaels were also unable to confirm yesterday how much

money would have been held in the machines at any one time.

However, when considering the floats held in each of the

machines plus their individual profits, one former arcade

manager said the figure could have been as high as

£100,000.

Andy Macrides, who used to run Gold Rush Arcades, now

Elements bar, said each gaming machine holds hundreds of

pounds.

In his small arcade he operated around 35 to 40 machines and

on a daily basis with the machine floats and profits there

could have been £10,000 on site.

He said: “We ran it for around six years before converting

into a bar and I would say on average the joint float stored in

all the hoppers of the machines would have been £7,000.

“Then you would have the profit collected in every machine

on top of that and most can hold hundreds of pounds. It depends

how often the machines are emptied.

“Sunday was a busy day so the machines on the pier may have

been emptied but if not it would have been a considerable loss

on Monday.”

Avon Fire and Rescue Service spent much of yesterday

watering down hot spots on the pier.

It has brought in Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams who

are making the structure safe, after an initial assessment by

helicopter yesterday.

The team will build platforms to allow fire investigators

and forensic teams inside to establish the cause of the

fire.

Mr Jenkins said: “The USAR teams will be working hard to

make the structure safe and will put in flooring to allow us to

get inside.”

Structural engineers have been on site to ensure the

integrity of the pier structure and said yesterday that the

pier had survived the blaze, although the floor around the

pavilion was a write-off.

Avon Fire and Rescue chief fire officer Kevin Pearson said:

“Debris is continuing to fall through the pier floor as most of

the floor has gone and it is not really safe to walk on at the

moment.

“However structural engineers are still looking at the pier

and they say at the moment they are confident the supporting

structure is pretty sound.”

Meanwhile tractors and diggers have been working hard to

clear the debris from the sand and piles of burnt wooden planks

can be seen in stockpiles alongside the pier covered by

netting.

The owners aim to reopen the landward end of the pier within

the next two days.

The fenced exclusion zone around the pier will also be

reduced as soon as it is safe to do so to allow increased

public access to the beach.