MILLIONS of pounds of funding have been secured to repair the historic Cobb in Lyme Regis.

The breakwater is eroding so badly that, without intervention, the Cobb would no longer work by 2044 - putting more than 100 properties at risk of flooding and coastal erosion.

Dorset Council has now secured £2.5million of funding from the Environment Agency to help stabilise and protect the site.

The council will provide an additional £500,000 of its own funding for the project. Work could be complete as early as 2025.

Councillor Ray Bryan, Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, at Dorset Council said: “Lyme Regis’s Cobb is a vital structure that protects the town from coastal erosion and flooding, it is also a beautiful, historic, and iconic structure and we need to do what we can to protect it and the town.

"I fully support the plans to stabilise the Cobb and provide improved access for the public along with an improved working areas for the businesses that rely on the Cobb for their livelihoods”.

This will be the fifth and final phase of their long-term Environmental Improvement Strategy in the seaside town.

Phases one to four of the Lyme Regis Environmental Improvement Strategy started in 1995 with the construction of sea walls and rock armour (Phase 1), followed by foreshore and land stabilisation works to the main town beach and public gardens, completed in 2007 (Phases two & three). Phase four, completed in 2014, included foreshore and land stabilisation works to the Church Cliff and East Cliff areas of the town, along with a concrete sea wall in front of the existing sea wall, which was in poor condition.

Phase five, which could start in Summer 2024 and expected to finish the following year, includes proposals for the construction of a sheet pile and concrete toe wall, and a tension pile to anchor the harbour walls.

The proposed summer start is to try and isolate the outer wall works in periods when the sea and climate is generally calmer, with an aim to minimise public and business disruption. Plans will also include the resurfacing of part of the Cobb’s walkway and fish landing quay, which is seen to be in poor condition and can restrict access for the less-abled, along with improved utility services.

Dorset Coast Forum, an independent strategic coastal partnership, will lead on the wider public, community and commercial engagement to ensure that the views and concerns of local users and the wider community are heard.