Funding for a flood defence scheme costing almost half-a-million pounds to protect thousands of homes has been approved.

The money is to reinforce sea defences at Deal and Walmer beaches.

On Monday, Dover District Council’s cabinet voted to accept a £449,000 grant from the Environment Agency for the work.

An officer’s report to members said: “The beach monitoring team have evidenced areas that can be recycled from while maintaining a consistent level of flood protection.

“This will benefit more than 3,000 residential properties and 200 non-residential properties within the Deal floodplain.”

Cllr Susan Beer, ward councillor for North Deal, said: “While we don’t like the noise from the bulldozers and diggers we are grateful.”

The money offered is from the Flood and Coastal Risk Management Capital Grant running between now and 2025/26.

The area between Oldstairs Bay by the Zetland Arms in Kingsdown and North Deal at Sandown Castle - a stretch of almost four miles - will be worked on.

The report to the cabinet explained that a business case by the East Kent Engineering Partnership proposed a two-year beach management plan to deal with the recent beach erosion along the Walmer and Deal frontages.

A start date for the work has not been confirmed but it will involve reshaping beaches that have become weakened by recycling shingle to replenish areas which have “fallen below the expected level of protection”.

The aim is to keep primary sea defences, sea walls and beach groynes, strong.

The officer’s report says the areas needing particular attention following winter storms will be the Kingsdown timber groyne field, Wellington Parade Beach and Deal Beach from the town’s pier to Sandown Castle.

The DDC report adds: “The proposed works look to recycle from existing frontages as opposed to dredging material from offshore sources.

“Beach recycling locally is considered as having the least effect on the environment.”

The East Kent Engineering Partnership is a consortium of five Kent coastal district councils, including Dover, dealing with flooding and coastal erosion.