Council contractors start work on new Dreamland fence.

THANET council contractors were allowed into the Dreamland site to begin work on a second metal fence around Margate's fire-torn scenic railway.

The council issued owners of the grade II listed structure with a notice last Friday to say they would put up a 2.4 metre metal fence around the structure to stop any further acts of vandalism.

The current fence erected by owners Margate Town Centre Regeneration Company (MTCRC) just three weeks ago was deemed not good enough by council officers.

The council issued the original urgent works notice at the beginning of the month demanding that the fence be put up but as yet it has not been fully completed.

Nick Dermott, heritage adviser at Thanet council, said the owners had not complied with what they asked for.

He said: "We had asked for a continuous fence around the site but that has not happened and in certain places you can get over the fence and onto the ride. The other part of the problem is the fence does not have spiky tops. It has round bits which make it easy to climb over. There is no fence at all by Arlington car park. Our sole interest is in securing the structure. We served the notice to them on Friday but we haven't heard back from them yet. If we are refused admittance we will have to go to the courts to get permission."

Part of the problem with the latest fence is that repair work could not be easily carried out on the structure.

The cost of the work being carried out will be recovered by Thanet council from MTCRC.

Deputy mayor and Dane Valley ward councillor Ted Watt-Ruffell is security manager on the Dreamland site and allowed surveyors on the site to assess what needed to be done.

Work was due to begin today (Wednesday) at 7.30am.