FUNDING to help revive ailing seaside communities is set to bring a jobs boost to Dorset.

The South West Coast Path – which runs across Dorset, Somerset, Cornwall and Devon – has been awarded £130,000 from the Coastal Communities Fund (CCF) to repair, improve and promote the path.

In the bid, the South West Coast Path said the cash would help to deliver 500 jobs across the region by the end of the year.

A spokesman for the South West Coast Path said the funds will help repair storm damage.

The cash boost comes after a CCF grant of £1m awarded in 2014, half of which was used to repair storm damage, including at Studland in Dorset.

The spokesman said: “The estimate we used for jobs to be created is based on the impact that the cliff falls and associated coast path closures were having on local businesses following the storms in early 2014. Our research shows that expenditure by South West Coast Path walkers dropped compared to the previous year from £478 million to £468 million, with the largest decrease being in staying visitors whose spending sustains more jobs. This decrease in spend led to a decrease in jobs sustained, which reduced from an estimated 11,393 to 10,610.”

The picture is a little different in Dorset, which suffered relatively little storm damage in 2014 compared to Devon and Cornwall.

The county bucked the trend of decreasing expenditure which rose from £77.4m in 2010 to £107.89m in 2014.

The spokesman said: “Now that most of the repairs are complete and with the benefit of additional promotional work funded by the CCF project we are anticipating a recovery in coast path walker expenditure across the region during 2015.”

Other projects to receive funding through CCF include one of the oldest charter markets in the country, the restoration of an historic passenger ship, and the repair of a much-used rambler’s coastal path following recent damage.

Communities Minister Mark Francois said: “We’re determined to unlock the enormous potential of our Great British Coast.

“Over the past three years we’ve already funded more than 200 projects along the shorefront – from piers and promenades to shop-fronts and sailing centres – to attract tourists, boost jobs and create vibrant local economies."

“Now this extra £800,000 will help put another 8 coastal communities back on the map and kick-start their own exciting regeneration plans.”

The CCF is financed by the government through the funding equivalent of 50 per cent of the revenues earned from the Crown Estate’s marine activities.

Details of a future bidding round for the CCF will be announced later this year.