Hunstanton observatory plans to showcase dark skies

Hunstanton is a seaside town in North Norfolk that is popular with tourists during the summer months

Building an observatory on the clifftops of a seaside town would extend its tourism season, an MP has said.

Plans for an observatory at Hunstanton, in Norfolk, are being prepared by West Norfolk Borough Council's tourism department.

Conservative North West Norfolk MP James Wild has welcomed the proposals.

King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council said it would promote the west Norfolk sky.

The single-storey building, with a retractable roof, could be built on land next to the council's pitch and putt course.

The observatory could be built on the town's clifftops, just north of its lighthouse

Alan Gosling, secretary of the King's Lynn and District Astronomy Society, said: "It's an ideal site, because it's up on the Hunstanton cliffs, looking out to sea - so a nice clear, unobstructed view.

"It will be a good place for people to take cubs, scouts and other societies."

Mr Gosling told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that it would not have a pre-installed telescope, but people would bring their own, and what they observe could be projected onto a large screen.

James Wild, the Conservative MP for North West Norfolk, who sits on the All Party Parliamentary Group for Dark Skies, said: "I welcome these plans, which will help create more opportunities for star-gazing and extend the tourism season.

"Hopefully, this will create a base which can build on the Norfolk Coast Partnership's successful Dark Skies Festival that I had the pleasure to open last autumn."

The project will utilise £30,000 from the European Regional Development Fund, money agreed with the UK before Brexit.