John Penrose, MP for Weston-super-Mare and Minister for Tourism & Heritage

Weston-super-Mare MP John Penrose is celebrating this week after it was confirmed that the town’s pier will now be signposted on the motorway.

The local MP wrote to the Highways Agency last month after being contacted by the pier’s owners whose request for the signs on the motorway had been turned down. John asked the agency to revise its decision as failing to highlight the new Grand Pier was “a missed opportunity for the town’s tourism industry”.

The Highways agency has now reversed its decision and will allow signs for the pier on Junction 21 and 22 of the motorway.

John said: “I’m delighted that the Highways Agency has reversed its decision. Weston’s Grand Pier has undergone a £48million revamp, will be the fifth largest free entrance attraction in the UK and is estimated to get more than 4 million visitors a year. It would be a missed opportunity for our town’s tourism industry if it wasn’t signposted on the motorway.”

Kerry Michael, one of the pier’s owners, said: “I have no doubt that the intervention of John Penrose, on our behalf, has tipped the balance in our favour with the Highways Agency. It is very important to us that passing holiday makers and tourists know that Weston Grand Pier is back in business, and these signs will go a very long way in helping us to do that.”