Southend's beleaguered pier could receive a slice of a £12million cash boost from the Government aimed at helping England's seaside towns.

Tourism minister Janet Anderson begins a tour of coastal resorts this week following the news that an extra £2million is to be pumped into funding for the English Tourism Council.

The initiative is designed to aid seaside towns which have lost out to the growing boom in people taking summer holidays abroad. The news has been welcomed by tourism bosses in the town.

The cash will come direct from the government but could also be diverted from National Lottery funds.

The news comes just four days before the deadline imposed by council bosses on businessman Tony Garner to come up with solid financial guarantees for his multi-million pound plan to build a massive rollercoaster on the end of the pier.

His Swine scheme has been given a mixed reception by councillors and residents and a public meeting held two weeks ago called for any pier development to be kept simple rather than on multi million pound schemes.

However help will not just be in the form of extra money, a spokeswoman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said today.

She said research had shown that money from the Lottery going to seaside resorts was low compared to other sectors.

She added: "There are a number of issues to look at in this.

"There could also be regeneration funding from Europe and the Government's regeneration budget.

"But another focus is for a push on e-tourism. There is a need for more emphasis on using the internet to promote coastal resorts.

"Market research will be conducted to find out what people want and need from seaside resorts and they in turn can be successful in providing that."

A Southend Council spokeswoman said any extra help for tourism in Southend would be most welcome.

She said: "Whether it is extra cash to enhance schemes we already have in the pipeline like the pier, or money to help business for example, we don't know. Until we do it would be wrong to single out specific schemes like the pier."

She added: "Tourism in Southend is more than the pier and the seafront. A lot of people come here for shopping and our parks and gardens are also very popular with visitors."

It could take many months for the extra funds to be handed out.

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