WEST Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger has applauded the decision to award another £23,500 to West Somerset’s Steam Coast Trail project.

The money is to be spent in Watchet on the latest section of a footpath and cycle way which will eventually follow the route of the West Somerset Railway from Minehead to Williton.

The cash has come from the Government’s Coastal Revival Fund which in its latest round of allocations is putting up nearly £1 million to be shared between 23 schemes.

The Fund provides grants to coastal heritage sites to finance repairs and restoration and bring economic growth to coastal communities.

Apart from the Watchet scheme projects being supported in the current round include Banksy’s Pinwheel in Weston-super-Mare, a community project in a derelict smugglers’ inn in Cornwall, and the preservation of Blackpool’s three historic piers.

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But Mr Liddell-Grainger, Conservative MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset, said there would be few sites where the money would be better spent than on the latest extension to the trail.

“Even though the project still has some way to go we are already seeing huge numbers of people using those sections of it which have opened, particularly the Dunster to Blue Anchor section which provides really stunning coastal and inland views,” he said.

“This use underlines the vision of the team behind the project and I wish them every success as they prepare to embark on the next phase of what is already creating a real tourism asset for the area.”