Bognor Pier woes cast shadow over Birdman

The chairman of the event's organising committee has vowed to do everything he can to ensure the world-famous occasion stays in the town.

But Barry Jones said a lot of matters needed to be taken into account before the go-ahead was given.

He said: "There is a good possibility we will be going ahead. Birdman will not be cancelled if I have anything to do with it. It would be a disaster for Bognor if that happened. But we are not going to make any impetuous decisions.

"It is going to take probably another week to work out all the implications for us of the pier being shortened. We are, obviously, looking at the situation very seriously."

This year's Birdman is scheduled to take place on July 5 and 6. Competitors from the USA and Germany are already lined up.

The weekend has been designed as a 30th anniversary celebration of the event's arrival in Bognor.

Coverage of the fliers brings the town more publicity than any other event.

But last week's sudden shortening of the pier has thrown the future of Birdman into doubt.

Mr Jones, who has run Birdman with an organising committee of volunteers for the past three years, said the prime concern with the shortened pier had to be safety.

"I reckon we have lost about 1ft in depth of water and have probably got about 10ft left.

"The Birdmen are coming off a 35ft-high ramp and I think they will be all right, but there are a lot of factors we have to look at.

"It's different to a swimming pool where people are diving in head first."

One aspect in the Birdmen's favour is their platform has not been located at the end of the pier, even in its previous length, since 1999.

Publicity for the 2008 Birdman is already well advanced, said Mr Jones.

Some 6,500 fliers had been sent around the country about the weekend. Butlins had also handed out about 10,000 leaflets since January.

Mr Jones said: "We will have to go ahead with the entertainment side of the weekend whatever happens with the Birdmen.

"We could have 10,000 people arriving in the town that weekend. What are we going to tell them if everything is cancelled?