THE lights were switched on last night, illuminating the North-East coast's last remaining pleasure pier.

Saltburn's Victorian pier, in east Cleveland, is being lit up from dusk to midnight.

The lighting, part of a £750,000 package of improvements, extends to the cliff lift, the pier amusements and nearby chalets.

Michael Phillips, of Lighting Design and Consultancy, of Durham, said: "The innovation was to show the pier in relief against the lit sea, as if in moonlight.

"The design was further developed to provide drama during rough weather conditions, lighting up breakers as they rolled in under the pier."