A GRAND vision to transform Southampton's derelict Royal Pier is back on the agenda after council chiefs and port bosses ended their feud over the redevelopment.

Secret talks have been held about a new scaled-down proposal to redesign the key site through housing, shops, bars, restaurants and enhancing the public space, the Daily Echo can reveal.

Two rival developers have come up with several different schemes on how best to utilise the derelict pier, pictured, and nearby Mayflower Park. However, the proposals do not include the Town Quay.

Redeveloping the pier - which was badly damaged in a fire in 1992 - is central to the council's plan to reconnect the city centre with the waterfront.

The news comes as Southampton enters its biggest period of redevelopment since reconstruction work after the Second World War. A sea of cranes will dominate the city in the coming years as major developments costing £1.5 billion will change the skyline forever.