A BRIDGE and footpath that will link the Town Mill to the centre of Broad Street in Lyme Regis has been given the green light by planners.

The bridge will cross the River Lym from the back of the malthouse at the mill and link to a footpath that will lead in to upper Cobb gate car park and Drakes Way - currently a small patch of overgrown wasteland owned by West Dorset District Council.

The path, says coordinator Marcus Dixon, of Lyme Regis Development Trust, will create a circular walk through the town which will be sheltered and will make it easier for elderly or infirm people to reach Broad Street from the north side of the resort.

It will also give an economic boost to many of the shops in Drakes Way and to the Town Mill, which will benefit from being connected to a town centre car park.

Work on the new footpath and bridge, which will be funded in the main by lottery cash along with a grant from the town council, will begin next year.

The town council has also agreed to maintain the upkeep of the new path and bridge.

Although not in exactly the same spot, Mr Dixon says a similar path crossing the river between the mill and the town centre is visible on the 1848 ordnance survey map of Lyme Regis.