ADVANCES are being made in plans to fix Watchet Marina's broken tidal gate.

Marina bosses have been working hard over the last few weeks with specialist contractors to come up with a solution.

It was hoped that a plan would be in place early this week but Marina manager James Burnell said they were still waiting for some contractors to get back to them.

He added: “We are feeling a lot more positive about getting the gate repaired now, especially as we know what the problem is. “It will just be a case of getting all of the information back and making a decision.

At the moment we think it will cost somewhere in the region of around £40,000 to get it all sorted.”

The problem lies not with repairing the gate but with getting it out of the harbour as the seven tonne gate will require a crane to lift it out. It broke almost a month ago and investigations showed that the structure of the gate, which is supposed to last 50 years, had broke.

Staff at the marina have been working hard to make sure boats can get in and out of the harbour.

Mr Burnell added: “We are still open to boats and are very grateful for people's patience at this time.”