FEARS are growing over the future of the Portland-based Coastguard helicopter after plans for a new search and rescue project were suspended.

The news comes just four months after coastguards celebrated a major deal to secure the vital lifesaving service, which covers Lyme Bay.

But the Government has suspended the £7billion scheme for a new fleet of helicopters as part of the massive savings programme to reduce the national deficit.

Seafarers who depend upon the service are calling for the Treasury to stick with the project.

The island’s ‘new generation’ aircraft is one of 24 Sikorsky S92As due to be used by coastguards around the country.

Portland’s new helicopter was due to be delivered by private consortium Soteria, which is taking over the helicopter contract from the Ministry of Defence from 2012.

Coastguard sector manager Rob Sansom said they expected to hear at least by next week.

“I know that this has been identified as one of the priority projects to look at in the review.

“I think probably the first thing we will hear is when the DFT (Department of Transport) send out a press statement.

“The contract wasn’t due to change over until 2012 anyway so nothing was going to change until then. Whether this causes a delay or not remains to be seen.

“I don’t believe we’ll be left without a helicopter.”

Keith Ferris, owner of West Bay Diving, said that having a rescue helicopter based close by at Portland was obviously a very good thing and he would not want to see it go.

Doug Lanfear, who runs his Blue Turtle reef and wreck diving business from Lyme Regis, said to make cuts in the service was ‘outrageous’.

He said: “I have just one word for it – ‘outrageous’, because Lyme Bay is probably one of the busiest diving areas in the whole country. There’s Exmouth, Lyme Regis, West Bay, Portland and Weymouth. We all put divers in in that area. There are a huge number of clubs that come down diving with their own private ribs so therefore a rescue service is essential.

“This year I have only had to call out the helicopter once but it was for a fatality. Normally, I would probably call the helicopter out six times a year but in context I probably do about 2,000 dives a year.

“Not only that, from a sailing point of view, people’s passage to cross Lyme Bay from Portland is fairly offshore so if there is an accident it is huge.

“The number of yachts going around Portland Bill heading towards Dartmouth is enormous and what happens if there is an accident on one of those?

“There’s a sizeable commercial fishing fleet and also a huge amount of walkers.”

South Dorset MP Richard Drax said the suspension of the new plans was ‘regrettable’.

He added: “It’s a shame that the appalling state of our finances has meant that this has been reviewed.”

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said that no decisions had been made about which individual areas will be affected by the proposed cuts.