COUNCILLORS refused to meet funding requests from a youth charity and will instead spend £100,000 of public money for improvements to a football club.

At a mammoth meeting lasting almost five hours, Lyme Regis Town Council handed out a total of £365,700 in grants to organisations over four years.

Councillors agreed to pay the Marine Theatre £120,000 for running costs – along with a previously agreed £20,000 for roof repairs.

Councillors rejected funding requests from organisers of Guitars on the Beach, as well as requests from Uplyme and Lyme Regis Tennis Club, Lyme Regis Museum, The Town Mill Trust and the Driftwood Project at Lyme Regis Baptist Church.

Organisers of B Sharp music youth charity saw funding requests significantly cut. The charity had requested a total of £45,000 over the next four years to pay for the continuation of its young music leader training programme and the group’s popular Hub Jams and Boombox sessions.

B Sharp will receive £10,000 next year, before the funding will be halved to £5,000 a year from 2017.

Speaking after the meeting, Fran Williams, CEO of B Sharp, said: "I was disappointed we didn't get the full amount. It really was going to be a significant game-changer for us.

"B Sharp is delighted to have the continued support of Lyme Regis Town Council.

"While it was not the full amount we requested, it will still make a significant difference to the young people of Lyme Regis."

Lyme Regis Gig Club was awarded £5,700 for a new fibreglass training boat, while the fossil festival was granted £20,000 and The Hub will receive £40,000.

Cllr Brian Larcombe, who stated his brother is the chairman of Lyme Regis Football Club, spoke out in support of the club’s grant application requesting £120,000.

The town council will spend £100,000 on extending the club's pitch and building a covered spectator’s area, extending the clubhouse with a kitchen and also paying for tarmacking and fencing.

Cllr Larcombe said organisations should realise “how lucky this town is" to have the available funding.

He said: “Lyme is a big village in population terms and I don’t know of any villages that would talk about spending this type of money.

“They couldn’t even dream about this type of stuff. I think we have to be a bit more realistic and actually understand how lucky this town is to find this kind of money.

“Be careful what you spend because we could find austerity kicking through from county to district to Lyme.”

Cllr Larcombe rejected Cllr Anita Williams' suggestion that austerity was already affecting residents in Lyme Regis.

Local Area Partnership (LAP) Lyme Forward saw funding cut by £1,000 a year over the next few years, despite warnings from Cllr Anita Williams to protect “essential services”.

She said: “We have to remember that these places cost money to run and there is a decrease in funding for youth services coming from West Dorset District Council.

“If we dismantle these services, they will be gone.”