Coastal works facing £4.1m shortfall

Coastal work is set to be carried out in Lyme Regis

The next phase of coastal works in a Dorset town have a shortfall of more than £4.1m, a council has said.

Dorset councillors have been looking at ways to reduce the cost of the £8.5m Phase 5 scheme in Lyme Regis.

The cost of the environmental work is in addition to £350,000 recently allocated for emergency work to repair a void at the toe of the seaward wall on The Cobb.

Dorset Council's flood and coastal erosion engineering manager Matthew Penny said talks on the future of the project were ongoing with Historic England.

He said a Defra consultation on a new approach to funding flood protection work from April 2026 might offer the council the chance to apply for additional funding – but, as yet, remains uncertain.

Final decisions on funding were still awaited from the Environment Agency as well, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Mr Penny said that if the talks go well, construction is still planned to start in the winter of 2026, continuing until the spring of 2027.

The public will also be invited to attend sessions that will look at ways in which users of the harbour could continue to have access while the works are underway.

The project has yet to receive licensing or planning approvals.