THE Heritage Coast in Cleveland and North Yorkshire still needs a great deal of work despite much being achieved in the past five years, says a new report on the future of the major walking route.

John Beech, Heritage Coast project officer for the area, says in a report to the North York Moors National Park's services committee that a catalogue of work has been carried out under the Heritage Coast project, funded by the European Union and local authorities and agencies.

While the Countryside Agency ended its funding for the scheme last summer, partners in the project have now drawn up a five-year action plan, concentrating on the area between the fishing village of Staithes to Scarborough, part of the Cleveland Way and areas around Mickleby refuse tip.

Increased funding is being made available for the work from next month, said Mr Beech. Recent work has included coppicing 200m of hedge at Goldsborough, planting traditional hedges, setting up a Friends' group at Staithes to carry out environmental projects, adopting beaches at Staithes and Runswick Bay, and erecting interpretative boards for visitors on the coast.

The national park is to contribute £16,000 towards the continuation of the scheme because of its value to the countryside landscape.

Mr Beech said: "While much has been achieved in the last five years, there is still a great deal to be done." He added that future work would include schemes to conserve, protect and enhance the natural beauty of the coast, improve opportunities for recreational and educational activities, upgrade the health of inshore waters and promote sustainable forms of social and economic development in the coast communities.

The improvement work would focus on becks and watercourses, ponds, roadside verges, churchyards, woodland, scrubland, dry stone walls, sand dunes, grasslands and diusused railway areas.

In addition, said Mr Beech, the idea of creating a voluntary marine nature reserve scheme at Robin Hood's Bay, Kettleness and Saltwick was to be investigated, together with conservation area partnership schemes at Sandsend, Runwick and Robin Hood's Bay.

Historic pathways, trods, pannierways and smuggling routes, many dating back hundreds of years, are to be surveyed and a study made of shipwrecks and other maritime archaeology between Scarborough and Whitby.