Boscastle applies for £2m funding

About 440m gallons of water tore through the village on 16 August

Boscastle is to submit a bid for £2m of funding to try and improve the village after last year's devastating floods.

Buildings were destroyed when water swept through the village last August and visitors have said that more needs to be done to help the area recover.

If successful, the money will be used to make improvements to the car park, harbour, visitors' centre and to build a children's play area.

The village has to wait until September to find out if it is successful.

We need to make sure Boscastle returns to the character it had before Janey Comber, councillor

The village's regeneration group hope to get £1m from the Objective One scheme and another £1m from matched funding by local authorities.

District councillor Janey Comber hopes the money will help transform the area.

She said: "It desperately needs to be done. We need to make sure Boscastle returns to the character it had before - but with certain enhancements."

Something special

Simon Buxton, who runs the Bridge House Tea Rooms in the centre of Boscastle, said: "They need something especially down towards the harbour. There's a lot of work going on - but they need to just regenerate it."

Some people say the money is not needed but the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, Ron Muffets, disagreed.

"The people who live here all year round need the amenities that everyone is entitled to," he said.

"For example playing fields for children, the car parks can be done up and landscaped, streetscaping, traffic-calming measures; all these things we really need in the village."