HUNDREDS of visitors were forced to flee by boat and train when a dramatic fire completely destroyed Southend Pier.

The blaze, which took place exactly 40 years ago today, saw flames and smoke billow into the sky as shocked residents and tourists looked on.

Thankfully, the hundreds of people who were on the world's longest pleasure pier when the blaze broke out were able to escape to safety.

But the pier itself could not be saved, and was left in ruins once firefighters had managed to extinguish the flames.

A year later another fire broke out in the pier's bowling alley, and in 1978 the railway was forced to close for safety reasons.

After a long campaign, the pier was rebuilt in 1984, with a new railway following two years later.

HOW THE ECHO REPORTED THE BLAZE THE NEXT DAY: FRIDAY, JULY 30, 1976...

A FLAMING ball of fire scorches the sky...thick choking smoke smothers the Thames Estuary.

This is the million pound inferno that engulfed Southend Pier last night.

The world-famous pier - the longest pleasure pier in the world - is a smouldering ruin.

The cost of the four-hour blaze is reckoned to be at least £1million.

Two firemen were injured in the huge fire. Miraculously, 500 people who were on the end of the pier were rescued.

Today the charred, twisted remains of the pier head were still smouldering.

After the night of drama in which trains and boats rescued people, a light aircraft "bombed" the flames with water and hard-pressed firemen called in firefighting tugs, the inquiry began.

But the cause of the blaze may never be known.