Piers win praise

The piers at Clevedon and Burnham-on-Sea have both been named among Britain's favourite piers in a new survey.

Clevedon pier was voted No.3 in the survey, while the pier at Burnham-on-Sea was No.5.

First place went to Saltburn pier, the only pier left in Yorkshire and the most northerly pier in England.

Grade one-listed Clevedon pier, built in 1869, was described as "a true gem of gossamer beauty, completely uncluttered and sitting on the Bristol Channel above the second highest tidal reach in the world".

Burnham-on-Sea's pier, Britain's shortest, was said to be "a bit stubby perhaps but full of mid-Edwardian architectural elegance and it won't wear your shoes out".

Louise Parkin, owner of the pier, told a Burnham-on-Sea website: "Some might argue that we are stuck in a time warp and that we should move with the times, but personally I feel that would alienate the core clientele that we have built up over many years."