Visitor centre funding for island

Piel Island is home to a pub, a ruined castle and six cottages

A tiny island off the Cumbrian coast has been given £280,000 in government cash to create a visitor centre.

The facility will be housed in the refurbished Grade-II listed Ship Inn on Piel Island.

The money has come from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's Sea Change Fund.

Piel Island, situated at the southern tip of Walney Island, contains little more than the public house, a ruined 14th Century castle, and six cottages.

The licensee of the Ship Inn is traditionally known as the "King of Piel" and manages the island under formal lease.

The Sea Change programme, which is running from 2008 to 2011, gives a range of large and small grants each year to seaside areas.