Facelift for seaside town

The investment is meant to draw tourists to the resort town

Great Yarmouth has launched an improvement scheme to highlight its history and boost tourism.

The £4.6m Townscape Heritage Initiative has received the largest award of its kind in the country from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

HLF spokesman John Blatchley said: "Here at Great Yarmouth, which is a truly great place in every sense of the word, they've so many things to do - of such great variety and such great appeal - that we felt they deserved the top award of £2m."

Great Yarmouth was a popular seaside destination in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, but many of the buildings are derelict and underused after years of neglect.

But town officials say a turnout of more than 30,000 people at the Pop Beach concert at the weekend proves that Great Yarmouth still has pulling power.

The T2 Pop Beach concert drew huge crowds

Planners say a area near the Wellington Pier and the Winter Gardens will become a family entertainment centre with tenpin bowling and possibly a theatre.

Barry Coleman, a Great Yarmouth councillor, said: "It was a bare boarded stretch of wood - you could see the dereliction of the place.

"There was nothing attractive about it at all."

Bert Coe, with Family Amusements, said investment in the town was sorely needed.

Mr Coe said: "For such a long time there has been a lack of investment within the tourist industry in this part of the country.

"We need to update to be able to compete with holidays abroad and the aspirations of people in the 21st Century."