Seafront piazza scheme is delayed

The plan was part of a bigger investment in the resort

A £5m plan to redevelop part of Cleethorpes seafront has been shelved for at least two years because of the recession, council bosses have said.

The project, part of a £20m investment in the resort, would have transformed Dolphin Square into a piazza by developer Cawthorpe Estates.

Building work, which had been due to start this autumn, has been delayed until September 2011 at the earliest.

North East Lincolnshire Council blamed "a slowdown in the national economy".

The Dolphin Square site encompasses The Submarine pub on Sea Road, the public toilets, Cleethorpes rescue base, beach safety office, and an arc of shops and the forecourt stretching to Central Promenade.

Geoff Lowis, the council's portfolio holder for regeneration, said: "The council still intends to develop the site but given the current recession, it has become unrealistic to work towards a scheduled start date of autumn 2009 for building work to commence.

"We have met with tenants and offered this extension which will enable them to secure two more years of trading and maintain the vibrancy of the resort during these difficult times.

"We remain committed to a programme of works on site and are still optimistic that a range of ambitious projects to put Cleethorpes on the map will happen, despite this revised timescale."