Exmouth sea wall repair pushed back to March

The £1.1m emergency repairs to Exmouth sea wall should take around eight and a half weeks to complete

Work to save part of Exmouth's sea wall will now take place in March, the Local Democracy Reporting Service has said.

It comes after cracks appeared in the wall in front of Sideshore, which is believed to be around 100 years old, last August.

The £1.1m emergency repairs should take about eight-and-a-half weeks to complete.

Councillor Geoff Jung said "some disruption is unavoidable" while the repair work takes place.

He said: "We want the repair works to have the minimum amount of detrimental effect on visitors and residents who visit Exmouth beach by avoiding the busy summer period and the least amount of disruption to the businesses as well.

"However, some disruption is unavoidable for these emergency works, which we apologise for."

A 255m (840ft) barrier of steel sheet piles will be installed between Sideshore, the retail and restaurant outlet, and Coastwatch House on the seafront.

East Devon District Council said designs and a construction programme for the project were due to be released soon.

It said the Environment Agency would contribute "substantial funding" to the project, but has not said how much.