THE new "boss" of Bournemouth's pier complex Steve Cutbush felt his world crashing down as he received a text message reading: "Pier burning down - turn on BBC news now!"

Fortunately for him it was Weston-super-Mare pier that the message related to.

Sitting in the stylish, revamped cafe at Bournemouth Pier, Steve, managing director of Openwide International, told me: "It was a horrible feeling: sheer relief and disappointment.

"It was a sad thing. The outpouring of emotion was incredible.

"It focused everybody's minds on how important the pier was to them.

"I wonder if the people of Bournemouth value their pier so much..."

Bournemouth Pier is not just taken for granted but has become seriously neglected in recent years.

A tired, half-hearted, minimal summer season entertainment programme and a "1960s-style cafe" ensured locals got out of the habit of promenading down it and visitors have hardly given it a second look.

Now Steve says the tides are truly turning.

The cafe has been transformed beyond recognition and a whole host of variety entertainment is steadily filling the calendar as it strives towards offering year-round family entertainment.

It's an uphill struggle, but with an undisclosed "landmark attraction" planned for the end of the pier, Steve believes the best is yet to come!

"We have a 25-year contract to operate and manage the pier and that involves investment.

"We've already invested £900,000.

"People don't necessarily see everything we've done.

"Everything costs twice as much as elsewhere because of the logistics of being on the pier.

"We've refurbished the shops, invested in everything from computer systems to staff - including the new theatre manager Ian Goode.

"If you want to bring a theatre like this back to life you must take it on the chin, you must have several years of loss.

"You have to start from scratch with no client base or data base.

"We are really chuffed with how far we have got in such a short time."

The restaurant cafe, with its colour-changing ceiling and outside decking area, is certainly stylish.

But the 50p toll, which has historically been charged to walk up the pier, continues to keep many would-be visitors away.

"We asked the council if we could take over from them in running the toll.

"They agreed if we give them what they would normally take, so we have to give them a fixed amount.

"The public see it as a tax, like a motorway toll."

Ways are being sought to get rid of it eventually.

This summer they have removed the toll each evening (with the exception of Friday) from 6pm.

They've kept it on Fridays for control reasons, given the large number of youths who gather for the fireworks.

At 6pm, Thursday to Sunday, they lay on free outdoor entertainment - jazz, soul and rock 'n' roll, aimed at bringing older local residents back up the pier.

Plans are also afoot to introduce broadband internet.

Steve's vision is that the pier will become a year-round "holistic entertainment destination", with plans to upgrade the entrance to the Pier Theatre with a conservatory.

But the big plan is the landmark attraction planned for the end of the pier, along the lines of the London Eye or Portsmouth's Spinnaker Tower.

"It won't be as big but it will have year-round appeal.

"It must be a classy, non-fairground, modern attraction.

"The impact of a major attraction in Bournemouth would be phenomenal."

He won't make any specific announcements until they have worked out technical feasibility.

"It will make the pier more of a focal point - more iconic."

Within 12 months they hope to make a planning submission.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and they are pleased with progress so far.

"We have taken a dead theatre and brought it back to life but we won't survive on 10 weeks of tourist trade.

"The positive is that even in the teeth of a slowdown and tightening of credit, the financial community is still willing to consider and back Bournemouth Pier because they see what a positive thing it would be.

"Theatre business is improved. Even the surf reef at Boscombe will be a positive.

"It can only complement us as a nearby attraction.

"We are conscious of the promises we made when we took over the pier and our investment programme is further ahead than we promised.

"The pier should be right at the heart of the community - the pulse of the coastal community - and I don't think this one is yet.

"When you see what happened in Weston, it proves you don't know what you have until it's gone. I want this pier to be Dorset's flagship."