A NEW £3million government fund has been created which could help with the maintenance and sustainability of Swanage Pier.

The Coastal Revival Fund will support communities looking to unlock the economic potential of hard-to-tackle buildings, facilities and amusements such as piers, lidos and proms.

Grants will be used to get restoration projects underway by funding initial work that will be a catalyst that attracts additional financing from the private and charitable sectors.

The aim is to help seaside towns to become year-round destinations that people want to live and work in, while helping to kickstart the revival of lidos and piers not currently reaching their full potential.

The National Piers Society has named Swanage Pier as one of the historic structures which could be held by the Coastal Revival Fund.

Ben Adeney, manager of Swanage Pier, said: “This is terrific news for us.

“We have just seen this and providing that we are eligible, we will be looking to progress a bid as soon as possible.

He added: “We need to find £1.6million to maintain the pier and provide it with a sustainable future.”

Seaside areas will also receive support from one of 110 Coastal Community Teams, who will be provided with £10,000 each, to create a long-term vision and strategy for their area to tackle the specific challenges they face.

Penny Mordaunt, coastal communities minister, said: “The announcements that we are making are about building capacity and opportunity in our coastal communities.

“Our new heritage fund is an important catalyst for drawing in additional funding and community good will that will get the revival of hard-to-tackle local coastal attractions underway and support new businesses.”

The Swanage Pier Trust is the overall managing body of the popular attraction on the town’s beach, which took control of the pier in 1994 with the aim of restoring and maintaining it to benefit visitors and residents alike.

In 2013 it was hit by ‘devastating’ storm damage, which saw the trust appeal for the public’s help to raise £50,000 to repair the historic Grade Two listed structure.