Weymouth is to get a massive financial boost of £19 million for works which will pave the way for what has been described as almost '400 new homes and a new leisure-led waterfront complex'.

Regeneration schemes in the town are among those to share in government levelling up funding.

A total of nine projects in the south west have been allocated more than £186 million from round two of the flagship fund which ministers say will 'create jobs, drive economic growth, help restore people’s pride in the places where they live and spread opportunity more equally'.

Bournemouth and Poole will get £18.2 million for a project to 'revitalise the seafront and build a community water sports hub'.

No detail of the projects in Weymouth have been disclosed in tonight's government announcement but the funding is said to be for 'enabling works' on schemes centred around Weymouth's harbourside.

It comes after Dorset Council's £17m funding bid to regenerate iconic Weymouth sites was rejected by the government in 2021- for round one of levelling up cash.

The council had submitted funding bids for projects chosen following recommendations made in a public consultation.

The projects included the regeneration of Weymouth harbourside focusing on Brewers Quay, North Quay and the Peninsula, the creation of an Aquaculture Innovation Centre, and the extension of the facilities available to Dorset Innovation Park users, including waterfront access on Portland.

The council had also proposed a new 80-metre pedestrian and cycling bridge be built alongside the Swannery Bridge to connect to existing pedestrian and cycle paths either side of Radipole Lake which would link with the Rodwell Trail and routes to the railway station and the Esplanade at Jubilee Clock.

Funding was also to be sought to create a digital media hub at Weymouth College by building a new facility on the Cranford Avenue site.

The Echo has been unable to clarify if any of the above schemes are among the projects to be awarded funding in this latest round - or if new schemes have been put forward by the council.

Dorset Council has been contacted so it can share more detail on the projects.

In announcing the funding, levelling up secretary Michael Gove said: “We are firing the starting gun on more than a hundred transformational projects in every corner of the UK that will revitalise communities that have historically been overlooked but are bursting with potential.

“This new funding will create jobs, drive economic growth, and help to restore local pride. We are delivering on the people’s priorities, levelling up across the UK to ensure that no matter where you are from, you can go as far as your talents will take you.”