Unexpected costs will mean Bridport Harbour ending the financial year in the red – although only by an estimated £1,400.

Dredging the harbour and repairs have added significantly to costs although income from charges was up.

One of the biggest increases was an £85,000 bill for dredging the outer harbour, a job which had previously been carried out free by the Environment Agency, but which has now stopped with the completion of coastal defence and beach reprofiling work at West Bay.

£60,000 of the cost was taken from a dredging reserve fund.

Harbour master James Redcliffe says that £18,000 had to be spent on unexpected slipway repairs which resulted in an £8,000 overspend for harbour repairs and maintenance.

He says that £20,000 will be spent this year, with work starting in January, on replacing timber piles around the harbour using recycled groyne timber from Bournemouth beach. A further £20,000 will be spent after April to spread the cost over two financial years.

Income is expected to be up by £25,000 by the end of March while employee cost have been down almost £14,000 with the Harbour Master post being shared with Lyme Regis, a gap before needing to recruit seasonal staff and casual staff doing fewer hours.

Most harbour charges are expected to increase next year in line with inflation.