Prime minister David Cameron has reiterated that the East Anglian coast will not be eligible for a share in a �60m green energy windfall, but said other sources of funding would be open to the region.

Last week it was revealed that investment for wind energy industries was being targeted primarily for the North.

Waveney’s Conservative MP Peter Aldous asked Mr Cameron to reconsider at yesterday’s prime minister’s questions.

“The East Anglian coast has some of the highest levels of deprivation in England and an urgent need for infrastructure development, but it has huge potential for creating jobs in the offshore renewables sector,” he said. “Will the prime minister look again at the exclusion of the East Anglian coast from the �60m allocated to establish offshore wind manufac-turing at port sites, announced under the grant for business investment scheme last week?”

Mr Cameron replied: “There is a great opportunity for communities, especially coastal communities, to make the most of offshore wind, and I have spoken to several leading industrialists, who are thinking of investing in Britain, to ensure that the grants are there.

“As my honourable friend will know, this grant scheme applies only to assisted areas. East Anglia is not an assisted area, but that does not rule out development taking place, and other sources of funding, such as the regional growth fund, can be applied to. I hope that he will look into those as he stands up for his community.”