A project aiming to tackle flooding in Great Yarmouth has been granted £8.2m.

The board of New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has approved the grant from its Local Growth Fund, which will go towards the second phase of the Environment Agency’s project.

The £39m scheme will see nearly four kilometres of flood defence walls built and refurbished, protecting housing and businesses.

Government funds for flood risk management - together with a number of other sources - will fund the remaining £31m, with work expected to get under way in autumn 2019.

Doug Field, chair of New Anglia LEP, said “This is an exciting time for Great Yarmouth. Our energy coast is at the centre of the world’s largest market for offshore wind and is of huge strategic importance to our economy.

“Safeguarding the town’s coastal economy, allowing homes to be built and businesses to grow without fear of disruption is key to its future prosperity. This project will allow that to happen and the LEP is delighted to be able to contribute.”

The funding bid was supported by the Tidal Defences Business Partnership (TDBP), a business-led group which aims to advance the tidal defence works as quickly as possible.

Keith Vincent, chairman of the partnership, said: “Great Yarmouth’s tidal defences are a huge benefit to us all; they protect our homes, our jobs, and the highways and infrastructure we need to ensure everything works safely and smoothly on a day by day basis.

“This crucial and really welcome investment by the LEP in Great Yarmouth is a key goal which the TDBP has been working towards and will help the borough to realise its full economic potential, unlocking huge opportunities for businesses based in the borough.”

The first £28m phase saw steel piles repaired in the Southtown and Cobholm areas of the town, and in a joint statement, councillors Graham Plant, Carl Smith and Trevor Wainwright welcomed the new grant. They said: “We would like to thank the LEP for their investment in this vital infrastructure, which is central to reducing flood risk to thousands of homes and businesses, while attracting and sustaining business investment and jobs in key industries.”