THE Government has announced more help to revitalise the ‘Great British Coast’.

Last year 118 Coastal Community Teams were created and given a share of £1.18m.

These included Redcar-Coatham, Hartlepool Headland & Harbour and Seaton Carew in Cleveland and the Heritage Coast Partnership on the Durham coast.

Similar teams already exist to champion Scarborough, the North York Moors and Whitby.

More Coastal Community Teams have now been created for the old port area in Sunderland and in Amble and Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, among 28 in total.

Each team – made up of local volunteers, councils and local businesses – receives an initial £10,000 to develop a blueprint for economic growth in order order to create jobs and prosperity.

They are also encouraged to tap into funding such as the dedicated Coastal Communities Fund, which has invested £120m since 2012 in more than 200 projects.

Coastal Communities Minister Andrew Percy said: “The Great British Coast has enormous potential and we’re determined to see it thrive all year round.”

Councillor Kevin Cranney, chairman of Hartlepool Council’s regeneration services committee, said with their funding they had been able to film a promotional video, set up a tourist information point at Hartlepool railway station as well as information boards in prominent locations around the town.

He said: “The Headland and Harbour and Seaton Carew Coastal Community Teams were established with the aim of raising the profile of Hartlepool as a tourist destination and have proved very successful.

“We are now awaiting the outcome of a £600,000 bid by the council to the Coastal Communities Fund which will enable us to deliver a masterplan for Seaton Carew.”

Coastal tourism is thought to be worth about £8bn each year to the economy in England.