TAXPAYERS will almost certainly be asked to foot the bill for repairs to a Teesside lifeboat station - only 18 months after it was built.

The £27,000 cost of repairing the station, which is above the toilets at Saltburn, needs to be completed while legal action against the original contractors is pending.

The lifeboat station, which accommodates a six-strong Redcar and Saltburn beach lifeguard team, was built using part of a £1.1m National Lottery grant made to fund renovations to Saltburn pier.

Steelwork began to show signs of rusting only months after it opened in the summer of 2001.

In a report delivered to councillors, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's officer for leisure services, Peter Lane, said that if the correct paint treatment work had been carried out any visual signs of rusting should not yet have appeared. A claim is being made against the contractors.

Mr Lane said: "It is felt that action needs to be taken to ensure that the building is repainted in time for the 2003 season. Repainting the structural steel work will significantly improve the visual quality of the building."

Councillors will discuss the issue at an executive committee meeting next Tuesday.