Campaigners fighting for sea defences at Hemsby have set a date for when they will deliver a petition to the prime minister.

Members of the Save Hemsby Coastline (SHC) group and crew from the village's lifeboat team will take the appeal directly to 10 Downing Street on January 29.

The petition, which received almost 20,000 signatures, is asking the government to take urgent action to install sea defences in Hemsby.

The campaigners are asking the government to change their criteria on how they decide to grant money for sea defences - with costs for a rock berm estimated at at least £15m.

Last October campaigners were told Hemsby did not meet the criteria for funding as hundreds of homes were not threatened.

READ MORE: 'We won't survive winter': Lifeboat station's dire warning over erosion

On the day, they will be joined by MP for Great Yarmouth Sir Brandon Lewis and local councillor James Bensly.

The campaigners say the conditions for getting funding are "fundamentally flawed" and the Environment Agency should take into account the money which Hemsby brings into the economy through tourism.

Ian Brennan, SHC treasurer, said: "Hemsby puts £80m into Norfolk’s economy every year through tourism, which over the expected lifetime of the berm adds up to £2bn and the potential loss of that income seems to have little bearing on the potential grant in aid funding."

A statement from last October said: "‘’The primary source of funding for the proposed work would be via a Flood Defence Grant-in-Aid (FDGIA) from the Government and the amount of funding available depends on the number of assets (mainly residential properties) that would benefit from a reduced risk of erosion once the scheme is completed.

"Currently schemes of this cost and scale would only attract FDGIA where hundreds of homes are at risk."