THE future of an ambitious £600,000 scheme to try to stop a cliff-top hotel from falling into the sea and taking the main road into Blue Anchor with it is hanging in the balance. West Somerset Council has been working in partnership with the owners of the Blue Anchor Hotel and Somerset County Council to draw up a plan to protect the crumbling coastline. But a potential funding pot to meet the bulk of the costs could be lost if a bid for cash is not resubmitted to the Environment Agency before the end of this month. Much of the hotel's garden is already out of -bounds because of erosion, and with the B3191 running immediately behind the building, there are concerns that if the hotel is lost to the sea, the road will almost certainly follow. Some £200,000 has been pledged by the partners towards the cost of extending the sea wall, providing rock armour to break up the power of the waves and to pin certain sections of the cliff to improve stability. But the district council was left high and dry in March when the Environment Agency rejected its original bid for funding towards the coastal protection work. At the time, the agency's finances were largely being targeted on the flooded Somerset Levels. The council has now been asked to resubmit its bid, but councillors have been warned the scheme may still not stack up financially even if the second application is successful - and there is no guarantee the sea defences will work. Chris Hall, the council's assistant director for operational delivery, told cabinet members on Wednesday the agency still had cash earmarked for the Blue Anchor project but the authority only had a matter of weeks to resubmit the bid or face losing out. "The funding is there waiting to be allocated, although there are still a number of technical issues that still need resolving," he said. "If we go back and say we are committed to putting in a bid I think they will hold the funding for us. "When the original bid went in back in January the project did stack up financially, but only just. "If the costs go up it may not stack up . . . and the money from the hoteliers is still not confirmed." Cabinet members agreed to set aside £25,000 from reserves towards the cost of the scheme, while the county council has promised £100,000 of materials in-kind plus £25,000 in cash. Old Cleeve Parish Council has put in £150 but Mr Hall said that while he believed the Environment Agency supported the proposals, he was unsure if the hoteliers would be able to put in their pledged £50,000 contribution. He said the hotel's mortgage company was seeking longevity guarantees for the work that would be done - but such a guarantee could not be given. And without their £50,000 the council would not have the necessary funding in place to resubmit its bid to the Environment Agency. "This really is on a knife edge," Cllr Andrew Hadley said, as members were told the authority had already spent £11,500 carrying out feasibility and technical works for the project. But councillors were adamant doing nothing was not an option as something had to be done to try and protect the hotel and the road. "I went to have look at the cliff for myself at the weekend," said Cllr Dave Westcott. "It is unbelievable what the environment has done to the cliff over the last year or so. I was astonished. "We do need to move forward and try and help. "We cannot guarantee the weather or what the coast will or will not look like, but for the sake of the road and the sake of the hotelier, we have to try." Mr Hall said officers would work through a number of queries raised by the agency and hold further talks with the hoteliers and their mortgage company before resubmitting the bid.