Deal's new sea wall is altering the look of the promenade south of the pier and construction should be finished by the end of December.
Contractors are working to complete the structure and Ian Dunkerley has given his seal of approval to the project, which he said was essential to safeguard homes and businesses. He added: “To be honest I was expecting it to be horrendous in front of Dunkerley’s, but it is reasonably low-key and okay. It is certainly not as disastrous as people initially thought.
“Yes it was lovely to see the sea but when Deal gets those nasty winds hitting us with force the new seawall will minimise the damage.
“We have to look at the bigger picture. The sea wall is sensible in these times of climate change and there has been lots of flooding across this country recently. The seawall has been a sensible project.”
Mr Dunkerley praised the workers and said he was impressed at how quickly they have progressed with the defence scheme.

* For full story and pictures of the seawall work see the East Kent Mercury, December 6.