Review of the Year - July to December 2016

Hastings Pirate Day 2016. Photo by Frank Copper. SUS-160718-092317001

In the second half of a two-part feature, the Hastings Observer takes a look back at the highs and lows of the six months from July to December 2016.

JULY

• Hastings MP Amber Rudd was promoted to Home Secretary on July 13. She was one of the first cabinet members to be announced as Theresa May took over as Prime Minister.

The Conservative MP is only the fifth woman to hold one of the Great Offices of State in British history.

Firefighters tackling the fire at Spa on Kings Road, St Leonards. Photo by Tammi Cornford SUS-161028-141900001

• Tens of thousands of seadogs, buccaneers and pirates descended on the town on July 17 for Pirate Day. The whole town was festooned with the skull and crossbones as residents and visitors got into the swashbuckling spirit. The pier saw more than 15,000 visitors on the day, as it played host to a wide range of pirate-themed activities.

• The air ambulance was scrambled after a man was rushed to hospital with chemical burns on July 14 after he came into contact with a corrosive substance. Three men were cleaning toilets in a building in Marine Court, St Leonards when they spilled around five litres of potassium hydroxide.

• An electrical fire in a shop’s refrigerator sparked a mass evacuation in St Leonards on July 19. A member of the public spotted the fire at the Spar shop in King’s Road before alerting staff. Residents in adjacent flats were evacuated.

• The council failed in a last-ditch attempt to appeal against a decision that it must pay compensation for closing the pier for health and safety reasons a decade ago. The authority’s appeal was thrown out by the Supreme Court in London. A hearing was held in June with the court’s decision announced on July 27.

Hastings Old Town Carnival Week 2016. Seaboot Race. Photo by Frank Copper. SUS-160208-082253001

AUGUST