THE first dredger-loads of sand from the bottom of Poole Harbour’s Swash Channel have been pumped onto Shore Road beach.

Almost half a mile of pipeline was floated out to sea earlier this week, as part of the ongoing £700,000 coastal defence scheme.

Borough of Poole wants to pump around 40,000 cubic metres of sand onto the beach to protect residential properties and infrastructure from further coastal erosion.

A council spokesman confirmed yesterday: “The first pump started this morning and the dredger then went out to replenish itself.

“Each dredger load is around 1,500 cubic metres of sand and takes an hour to pump onto the beach.

“After each hour-long pump, the dredger then takes another three hours to refill and connect back up to the pipeline.”

This is expected to carry on, 24 hours a day, for the next fortnight.

During last year’s winter storms, Shore Road beach suffered around a decade’s worth of erosion, experts say.

Council coastal management portfolio holder Cllr Xena Dion hopes that by building the beaches back up to their previous levels, they will provide protection from future storms.