Mablethorpe awarded almost £24 million from government's town fund

Mablethorpe has been awarded £23.9 million from the government's town fund as the area looks to recover from the pandemic.

The seaside town saw a dramatic drop in visitors during 2020 and the Center for Towns identified Mablethorpe as being the area most at risk from the impacts of the pandemic.

Around 35% of workers were furloughed in the town and employment fell by around 3,000 from 2019 to 2020.

However, this summer the town has seen a 30% increase on visitor numbers from 2019 as lockdown restrictions are eased and more people holiday in the UK.

Lydia Rusling, Assistant Director for Economic Growth at East Lindsey District Council, said: "To see a complete turnaround, back to where we were before and exceeding that is incredibly welcome, the footfall we have seen this year is really encouraging and people that have maybe not been to our Lincolnshire coast for quite some time have been really welcomed to our Lincolnshire coast.

"So I hope that will continue into the future, but we really cannot rest on our laurels and we need to think about how we continue to attract them into the future."

Ms Rusling said that the money from the town's fund will help to bring new business to the area and that it will be a "catalyst" for future visitors and investment.

She said that she hoped the economic investment would benefit local people as well as the visitor economy.