SOUTHEND Pier has been named as one of Trip Advisor’s top ten trending autumn attractions for 2016 after interest on the popular website increased by 88 per cent.

The travel planning site announced the list of attractions that have seen the greatest increase in interest this autumn based on year-over-year search activity on the website.

Southend Pier came in sixth with an 88 percent increase in traffic since last autumn, indicating a growing interest in the attraction since last year.

Ann Holland, Councillor for Tourism, said: “Southend is thriving thanks to many major regeneration projects across the borough in recent years.

“As these develop they are continually helping to attract more visitors and more investment.

“Our pier – the world’s longest pleasure pier, and listed as one of Historic England’s seven wonders of the English seaside - continues to attract visitors and this news is very welcome.

“The pier has been enjoying a record numbers of visitors recently with nearly 300,000 last year. And despite the necessary pier closure this summer we still attracted more visitors than we did in 2011 which shows that interest is still clearly high.

“We have also been encouraging people to leave their feedback on Trip Advisor and so this result is good to see.”

Southend Pier is the longest pleasure pier in the world at 1.341 miles long and visitors can either walk or take the train to enjoy fantastic 360 degree views as well the surrounding attractions on the seafront.

More than 110,000 visitors flocked to the pier this summer alone, only 20,000 less than last year despite the train being out of action.

Paul Thompson, from the Southend Seafront Traders Association, said: “I think this is encouraging for Southend. It shows more and more people are wanting to come here and that’s fantastic news.

“Eighty eight per cent is a massive increase for the area and I think that’s down to what else there is to offer on the seafront, but this trend won’t continue if the council don’t increase the parking capacity which continues to be a big problem.”

Some seafront traders feel that the sole recognition for the town’s pier is misleading to people visiting Southend.

Martin Richardson, owner of Happidrome, said: “It’s OK that people are looking at visiting the pier on the internet but it doesn’t mean they will actually come here.

“I think this kind of news gives people a false sense of security.

“They need to be given a real reason to go down to the pier because that in itself is not enough.

“We often hear that people are disappointed with what’s on offer and especially with the train out of order this summer.”

In autumn months, the pier is open until 6pm Monday to Friday and 8pm at the weekends.