An Easter parade and sandcastle competition provided some light hearted family entertainment in Millport, but also carried a serious message regarding the future of the town's pier.

Local majorettes and Rainbows were joined by pirates, Easter Bunny, Pierre, the seagull, decorated prams, bikes, car, members of Sonoro Choir and others followed the pipe bands from Kames Bay to Millport Pier with hundreds of supporters lining the pavements.

Mari Wallace of the Save Millport Pier campaign group said: "It was great entertainment, but the 'Mind the Gap' message was given loud and clear to North Ayrshire Council that Millport Pier needs to be repaired NOW and maintained until at least an alternative is provided under the Flood Protection Scheme.

"There is currently nowhere in Millport to safely tie up a boat and, as an island community, the economy and resilience of the island is being compromised. The slip at the back of the island can only be used by roll on/ roll off ferries.

"An increasing number of people are expressing concern about the fact that four years ago NAC chose to reallocate the funds that had been ringfenced for the pier and abandoned it resulting in its closure.

"Despite being neglected since 2014 the pier is still standing and independent consultant engineers have identified that it is capable of being repaired at vastly less cost than North Ayrshire Council estimated four years ago!"

North Ayrshire Council are undertaking a dive survey at seabed level, and will then consider the future of the pier.

North Ayrshire Council have said that will continue to engage with the local community to develop a potential flood protection design option which involves the reconstruction of the timber pier structure.

This would potentially take the form of a steel or concrete pier structure, complemented by an appropriate offshore rock breakwater, with the budget funding for the development having been delayed until 2020/21.

The £11,000 dive survey has been commissioned after discussions with local community representatives to determine the condition of the masonry and timber sections of Millport Pier, with further costs arising from the brief to carry out other work.

Through council consultation, Millport residents expressed a desire for alternative options for flood protection works, and this has involved a significant amount of additional work in modelling these options and to look at the environmental and economic issues surrounding them.

The council say that it is 'essential that the final project is well supported by local people and the change to the timetable reflects the essential consultation process.'