A MULTI-million pound scheme to protect Minehead from flooding by the sea is on schedule to be completed before Christmas.

Parts of Minehead have been prone to coastal flooding for many years, with both residential and commercial properties being damaged or disrupted.

The Environment Agency (EA) began work in September on a £3.7 million scheme to protect two sections of the Minehead coast near the West Somerset Golf Club, stabilising 1,200 feet of a vulnerable shingle ridge in a bid to protect businesses and properties from future flooding.

The EA has now confirmed the majority of the work will be substantially completed by the end of November, with the final touches being completed by Christmas, including the reopening of the West Somerset Coast Path connecting the town to Dunster.

Two stretches of the beach are being protected using granite rock armour, sourced from the same Scottish quarry which supplied the stone for the Blue Anchor coastal defence scheme further along the coast.

One section lies on the northern edge of the golf course, not far from Warren Road, while the other lies at the eastern edge near the mouth of the River Avill.

While visitors can still use the beach to walk between Minehead and Dunster at low tide, the coast path remains closed while the work is being carried out.

Those wishing to reach Dunster at high tide, or by avoiding the beach, are currently being diverted along Seaward Way, via the A39’s £1 million cycle route, and through Dunster, passing the West Somerset Railway station on the way to the beach, where the Steam Coast Trail to Blue Anchor begins.

An update on the scheme was published before the EA’s Wessex regional flood and coastal committee meeting in Yeovil last week.

EA Wessex flood and coastal risk manager Rachel Burden said: “The works are to the east of the main 1996 Minehead flood defence scheme and aims to address weak points that have appeared following a series of storms.

“A total of 14,500 tonnes of granite is being brought onto the foreshore by barge day and night.

“The rock armour construction is being undertaken with collaborative delivery framework partners, including our lead designers Atkins Réalis and our principal contractor Kier.

“The contractors are working with an aim to substantially complete the work by the end of November and achieve final completion by late December.

“These ‘urgent’ works will sustain the current standard of service for Minehead in the medium term.”