Hopes Lynemouth caravan park will drive visitors to stretch of Northumberland coast

Work will begin on a caravan park aimed at drawing more visitors to a lesser-known stretch of the south east Northumberland coast.

The park will be created on the site of a former drift mine on the edge of Lynemouth and will have bays for 40 touring caravans.

It is part of a drive to boost the industry in some parts of the county.

The aim is to reduce the pressure on tourist hotspots further north, such as Bamburgh, as well as provide an economic injection elsewhere.

Tony Carter, the planning consultant for the development, believes the area is crying out for this kind of facility.

He said: "At the moment, people who are visiting this area are very restricted for accommodation.

"You've got your AirBnBs and your static caravans but most of the static caravans are owner occupied."

A short distance up the coast, the owner of the Drift Cafe, in Cresswell, is welcoming moves to draw in more visitors.

Duncan Lawrence opened the business in 2014, which has since become a destination in itself.

Mr Lawrence and his team recently experienced their busiest day ever in terms of visitor numbers.

He said: "We employ more than forty staff these days and we get thousands of people through here every week."

Mr Lawrence added: "It's just a joy to do that and bring tourism to this area."

The plans for Lynemouth's new caravan park were recently approved by Northumberland county councillors, keen to encourage visitor spending across the county.

Elsewhere, there is a note of caution.

Steve Lowe from the Northumberland Rivers Trust acknowledges the importance of spreading tourism around the county, not least to take pressure off "honey-pot" areas.

He argues, though, that approval for the proposed new caravan park is premature.

He said a planned clean-up of Lynemouth beach should be completed first, to rid it of contamination following the dumping of industrial and domestic materials there in the past.

"Until that actually has happened," he said. "And we've had a few years afterwards for the area to recover, then perhaps this would be a better proposal at that point."

The leader of Northumberland County Council - which is behind the clean up - is confident the work will be complete in the foreseeable future, as the caravan park begins welcoming visitors.

Councillor Glen Sanderson told ITV News Tyne Tees that regulatory consents have been required from a number of bodies before the task can begin.

The authority said it has already spent around half a million pounds on preparatory work, with around £4.5m of its funding allocated for the clean up itself.

On the wider issue of encouraging tourism, Mr Sanderson said: "This will be a brilliant place to bring family and friends and come to spend a holiday."

He added: "This is where we want development to take place so that this area will benefit from spending, visitors' happiness and generally bring prosperity to the area."

Tony Carter hopes the new caravan park can begin welcoming visitors from the spring and summer season 2023.

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