Vital safety inspections and maintenance works to rides on Clacton Pier is well underway.
The annual programme takes weeks to complete and began on November 10 following the final fireworks display of the year.
It involves an outside team of inspectors on site as well as the attraction’s own in-house technical team carrying out a well-planned scheme.
Each ride undergoes a complete strip down and check over, similar to an MOT for a car.
The comprehensive project involves closing all the rides completely with final inspections taking place by Amusement Device Inspections Procedures Scheme (ADIPS) staff next month.
The only exceptions are the Big Wheel and Dockside Dodgems which will be open for the next three weekends and from December 20 to 24 for the pier’s Christmas Festival, but will also undergo their checks and maintenance separately.
The aim is to ensure both the rides and ride deck are in the best possible shape for visitors when they reopen in February half term.
Technical services manager Alex Lester said that more than £1 million is spent on pier maintenance every year.
“It is one of the most important times of the year for the technical services team and they are all involved either outside or in the workshop, “ he added.
“The closure of the ride deck for this period gives us the best opportunity to carry out work that we need to undertake on a structure that is more than 150 years old.
“It is also a chance to get the inspectors on board. The safety of all our customers and staff is of paramount importance and will never be compromised.
“By bringing in the outside expert inspectors it gives us that extra confidence that everything meets the very highest possible industry standards.”
The initiative is all part of the attraction’s regular and routine maintenance that carries on throughout the year.
Last year the team’s work was recognised at a national level when the pier collected the inaugural ADIPS Safety Award for the Pursuit of Excellence.
Mr Lester said the accolade was reward for all the efforts put in by the staff and was evidence of their commitment to do a high quality job.
