IT has been revealed that Saltburn's Victorian pier has become a victim of the winter storms.

One of 60 legs on the 20 refurbished cast-iron trestles is missing from the recently renovated Saltburn Pier - smashed and washed away.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council believes the damage was probably caused by a massive tree trunk in the aftermath of flooding at the Saltburn Valley Gardens, where more than 100 tons of timber crashed down the beck.

Estimates put the repair bill for the Gardens at more than £150,000 after the timber wrecked the area's three bridges, including a new wooden bridge close to the sea. Now it is thought that some of the same timber, which was washed out to sea has come back with a vengeance to damage the pier.

Peter Lane, head of leisure services with the council, said: "It is always staggering to realise the power of the sea. We're classing this as a very unfortunate incident and it shows how fragile a structure the pier is. You could say the pier is legless for Christmas!"

Work on redecking and refurbishing the pier, the last remaining pleasure pier along the North-East coast, was completed in October, funded by a £1m Heritage Lottery grant.

Another £300,000 was needed from the Heritage Lottery to carry out more essential work on the pierhead, but that work will not start until March.

Mr Lane said: "A proper pierhead would probably have prevented this latest damage."

In the meantime, the council's Technical Services staff is working on designs to protect the pier before the arrival of the spring tides which will enable the pierhead construction to proceed along with the extra work of replacing the missing leg."