THE B3191 road between Watchet and Blue Anchor could be reopened by 2030 if the Government approves a major funding bid by Somerset Council.

The council is asking for a ‘significant contribution’ to the estimated £30 to £40 million cost of either making the road safe again for vehicles or rerouting it further inland.

The authority closed the B3191 at Cleeve Hill in January, 2023, because of subsidence in nearby coastal cliffs.

Pedestrians and cyclists only were later allowed access but it has remained closed to vehicles and the closure was made permanent last year.

However, an initial application made last month to the Department for Transport’s £1 billion structures fund has now been approved to go through to the next stage of the funding bid process.

The council has until early August to prepare a full business case for the B3191 project and will be told in the autumn if its succeeds.

If the bid is successful, any Government grant which is awarded for the scheme will have to be spent by April 1, 2030.

Somerset executive Cllr Richard Wilkins said: “This is only the first step but it is a hugely important one.

“It means in principle the Government now recognises and supports the need to find a way to reinstate this road and will look seriously at our bid to fund this.

“We know the closure of the road to vehicles is having a major effect on the economy of Watchet and we have continually made it clear to Government that there is a significant cost to the local economy and inconvenience in terms of hours lost in delays, the logistics of coping with delivering goods to and from Minehead, as well as the negative effects on tourism.”