Staff at Clacton Pier have undergone vital training which could help save lives and assist visiting families.

Employees across a number of departments undertook two sessions, one of which was run by the RNLI.

The aim was to give greater confidence in dealing with incidents and issues which could arise on any day.

Two members of the RNLI visited the pier to hand out a couple of hours of life-saving instruction, especially involving key equipment kept on site to help those getting into difficulty in the sea.

Pier Communications Manager Nigel Brown there have been several occasions in recent years where staff have successfully helped out.

“Although those did not involve visitors to the attraction, our teams have spotted swimmers in difficulty and successfully gone to their aid,” he said.

“The work they did with the RNLI was good team-building and increased their knowledge of what to do in an emergency situation.”

Last summer a group of six people had problems after being swept towards the east side of the pier after going into the sea from an adjoining beach.

Pier staff used life rings on ropes to hold onto four casualties until Tendring District Council Beach Patrol and two Clacton lifeboat teams picked them up. Unfortunately, a fifth person had disappeared before the cries for help were heard and did not survive.

“There was a tragic loss of life on that occasion but it could easily have been so much worse without the efforts of our staff,” added Mr Brown.

Another group of employees underwent two hours of online Makaton training - a simple aid for communicating with those with communication difficulties and needs – provided by the Makaton Charity.

Fifteen staff were involved and it means they can now deal more confidently with visitors such as those on the autism spectrum and with learning disabilities.

More work is to be undertaken to improve accessibility for all at the site.

Pier director Billy Ball said that staff are the businesses greatest asset and it is important to invest in their development.

“Both these courses will have provided them with new tools to improve their ability to deal with various situations in the course of their work with us,” he said.