A famous UK seaside town’s pier has been named the best in the UK. Southend Pier in Essex, which opened in 1830, has topped The Telegraph’s list of the top ten in the country.

Extending into the Thames Estuary, it is the longest pleasure pier in the world at 1.3 miles long. It was first made of iron, but this was replaced by wood in 1889. The Southend Pier Railway, opened in the early 1890s, was the first pier railway in the country - it runs the length of the pier and operates half-hourly when the pier is open.

It scored so high due to its length, fairground, ferris wheel, theatre space, places to eat, Blue Flag beach, railway, Grade II-listed status, RNLI lifeboat station, proximity to a Victorian hotel, and previous NPS Pier of the Year wins.

The classic pier harks back to the Victorian love of the seaside resort, with entire communities being built up around their out-of-town visitors. English poet and writer John Betjeman once said: “The Pier is Southend; Southend is the Pier.”

Previous winners of The National Piers Society’s Pier of the Year Award include Llandudno, Cromer, Southend, Bangor Garth, Clevedon, Clacton, Worthing, and South Parade.

10. Clacton Pier - 368

9. Folkestone Harbour Arm - 370

8. Palace Pier, Brighton - 377

7. Eastbourne Pier - 388

6. North Pier, Blackpool - 400

5. Worthing Pier - 407

4. Clevedon Pier, 420

3. Cromer Pier - 464

2. Llandudno Pier - 500

1. Southend Pier - 540