Whitby businesses and railway share £3.4m seaside grant

The fund said the grants would lead directly to the creation of 221 jobs

A business park and a heritage railway are to share about £3.4m of government cash to spend on job creation and environmental improvement.

Whitby Business Park is to get £2.6m and North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) £800,000, from the Coastal Communities Fund in West Yorkshire.

The fund said the grants would lead directly to the creation of 221 jobs.

The money will improve access to the business park and help it provide support for an offshore wind farm.

The grant will also provide a new platform for Whitby station.

Major boost

It would allow the number of NYMR steam trains to and from Whitby to increase from three to five a day from April 2014, said the railway.

The building work is part of a £1.4m renovation programme.

The station in Whitby is owned by Network Rail and run by Northern Rail.

The extra passengers on these trains should be a major boast to the local tourist economy, according to the railway.

Scarborough Borough Council will get almost £2.6m to develop Whitby business park.

The project will provide skills training and support for businesses linked to the potash, renewable energy and other local industries.

The Coastal Communities Fund was created in 2012 to boost areas that had suffered "decades of economic decline".

Twenty seaside town projects in England have shared £16m in funding.