Visitors to the end of Southend Pier can now enjoy an old seaside favourite not seen there in more than a decade...chips!

The Estuary beach huts have been a popular attraction at the pier and the long-awaited return of the seaside snack, sold from one of them, is something pier lovers are absolutely loving.

‘The Chip Hut’ is now offering visitors the traditional cone stacked full with chips which can be topped with a selection of no fewer than 20 different sauces. All for just £2.

Dave Collins, 51 from Silversea Road, Westcliff, is pleased.

He said: “I think it is a fantastic thing, chips are as much a part of the seaside as sand castles and there is not much else that signifies that more.

“The end of the pier has been a bit of a dead space for years and the only thing it was useful for was the view.

“It can only be a good thing, make them double fried I say and I’m sold even more!”

The 12-year long absence from the longest pleasure pier in the world was sparked by the massive fire of October 2005.

The blaze meant that in years gone by Southend Council have taken extra precautions with food outlets to ensure another fire does not break out.

Ann Holland, councillor for Culture, Tourism and the Economy, said: “After the pier was severely damaged by the fire to McGinty’s Pub in 2005, we had to take some extra precautions.

“Eating a lovely, fresh portion of chips on the longest pleasure pier in the world was previously a great tradition, and it is with great delight that we can welcome back eating chips on the pier.”

The arrival of chips once more on Southend Pier has also been a huge part in giving Southend a more traditional seaside feel for visitors which some many feel has been missing since the fire.

Along with the return of the seaside favourite, the other beach huts offer up a selection of seafood, sweets and variety of rock flavours including Marmite, fish and chips, gin and tonic, scrumpy, and candy floss.

Darren Lattimer who runs The Chip Hut and is also the owner of Southend Pier Crazy Golf, said: “You have got to have chips at the end of the pier.

“It was what everyone wanted because before it, there was not much else but a place to get a sandwich.”

The huts as well as being a collection of small food stalls and retail spaces are also miniature art exhibitions for people to view on their walk along the pier.

They were designed and unveiled in collaboration with Metal last year to bring colour and culture to the pier which Mrs Holland said was “undeniably the jewel in Southend’s crown” when they were originally designed.

Mrs Holland said: “The pier is such a local treasure. The Estuary huts are a fun and quirky way of bringing more people to our town, and more specifically our remarkable seafront. “Being able to walk around the pier with some fresh chips is a real reminder of our heritage.”

In the first half of 2017, 156,494 visitors walked the pier, topping all visitors’ numbers since before the fire in 2005.

Mr Lattimer said that the addition of these attractions has encouraged even more people onto the pier. He said: “They are making it a lot more attractive.

“The huts are giving the pier a complete new vibe,transforming a blank area, giving it a retro vibe.”