HARBOUR bosses are forging ahead with the next stage of a 30-year scheme to save one of the south’s biggest sailing centres.

They have secured the money needed to build a second breakwater near the entrance to the Lymington River, which is worth almost £100m a year to the local economy.

Salt marsh islands in the Solent protect the hundreds of yachts moored in the harbour by cushioning the impact of winter storms.

But the marshes are eroding, making it necessary to replace them with barriers comprising rocks from a quarry.

The first breakwater was completed three years ago. Now Lymington Harbour Commissioners have obtained the funding they need to build a second structure on the opposite side of the river entrance.

New Forest District Council has agreed to act as an intermediary by borrowing £3.24m from the Public Works Loan Board.

The plan was approved by the council’s ruling Cabinet, which heard that local government rules prevented the commissioners from approaching the board directly.

Harbourmaster Ryan Willegers welcomed the council’s decision.

He said a survey carried out by Lymington Chamber of Commerce in 2006 showed that the river supported hundreds of jobs and was worth £93m a year to the local economy.

Mr Willegers added: “The loss of a sheltered harbour would have a significant impact on many sections of the local community. It could amount to the majority of moorings in the river being lost, which would be disastrous.”

Lymington has produced several Olympic medal winners, including the record-breaking Sir Ben Ainslie.

In a six-phase scheme, the two breakwaters will be extended over the next three decades as the town's natural coastal defences continue to disappear.