THE centuries-old piers protecting Scarborough and Whitby harbours are now in such a parlous state that they could be breached by the North Sea in less than a decade, causing immense damage, according to experts.

Now, Scarborough council has given the green light to spend millions of pounds on restoring the East Pier at Scarborough and Whitby's two piers.

While the East Pier is about 250 years old, a similar structure existed as far back as the 13th or 14th century, says John Riby, the council's principal engineer and now recognised as one of the country's leading experts on cliff erosion and sea defences.

The landmark piers at Whitby, pictured above, are in line for restoration as part of an £11m scheme to restore the cliffs. Some £9m of Government cash and funding from the council, will be put towards the major scheme with a further £2.3m on shoring up the cliffs between Whitby and Sandsend.

The council expects to get about 75pc of the cost from the Government, and other money from loans to the council.

Coun Sandra Turner said work on Whitby's piers was "desperately needed" and Coun Dorothy Clegg said: "Our lives and livelihoods will be wrecked if the piers are breached because the giant waves of the North Sea will have a disasterous effect on many harbourside properties."

The schemes on the Scarborough council coastline are estimated to cost £23m in total, which will ensure the stability of the sea defences for at least 60 years, says Mr Riby.

"Most of the existing defences are old and reaching the end of their life," he added. In several places the infrastructure is vulnerable to the pounding of the sea, backed by cliffs which have the potential to be unstable to varying degrees, he said.

Last winter alone, the coastline suffered 250 landslips, ranging from falls of just a few tons to hundreds of tons, the worst being on the North Side at Scarborough.

Mr Riby said the problems were compounded by changes in the climate and sea level caused by global warming. "They present a significant challenge to future management of the coastal defences."

He said that if work was not carried out on the piers it was strongly believed a breach could happen within the next ten years.

The action plan has been drawn up by High Point Rendel, one of the world's top marine engineering companies.

Updated: 09:53 Thursday, November 15, 2001