DEMAND for boat spaces at both West Bay and Lyme Regis harbours has dropped year on year – although may pick up as the weather improves.

At both harbours the number of people on the waiting list has dropped and both leisure and commercial mooring figures are down.

By contrast Weymouth’s figures have remained generally positive.

At West Bay 110 out of 137 leisure moorings are taken, the lowest figure at this time of year since the Covid period, while commercial moorings have more than halved – from 23 at this time last year, down to 12.

At Lyme Regis there has also been a drop with leisure moorings at 158, compared to 191 at the same time last year, and commercial moorings at 30, compared to 34 a year ago.

At both harbours figures are also down for single launches and boat lifts although both of these are often weather related with current dredging operations, due to be finished by Easter, possibly also having an impact.

At Weymouth the harbour position is said to be better, although also following seasonal trends, with almost 100 per cent of commercial berths let and non-resident fishing boat visits up by 16 per cent on the same time last year. Some of these have also been weather-related with vessels seeking the safety of the harbour during high winds.