Work on an seaside town’s new £430,000 18-hole adventure golf course has started.

The Sheppey-themed course, which features Island landmarks, is being built at Beachfields in Sheerness as part of the £20 million regeneration of the town centre.

Construction began today (April 14) and is set to be completed in late July.

Rock Ventures are carrying out the work – which will cost £429,425.91 – on behalf of Swale council’s contractors Alliance Leisure and Etec Group.

The news comes after the public was asked for their input into the scheme in January.

One of the popular suggestions has seen the planned whale feature become ‘Sammy the Seal’ – a tribute to the friendly seal who became a familiar sight at The Leas in Minster.

The historic Sheerness High Street clock tower was included after a Rose Street Primary School pupil asked for it to replace a lighthouse design.

Meanwhile, students from EKC Secondary School in Marine Parade proposed scorpion obstacles along with a representation of the Blue Town wall for one of the holes.

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The input also means the service hut will be based on the beach huts which line the Sheppey coastline.

Other landmarks include the Kingsferry Bridge, the SS Richard Montgomery ship wreck and the Minster Abbey gatehouse.

There are also nods to the Island’s rich heritage, such as the Wright Brothers' plane, which highlights the early aviation innovation that took place in Eastchurch.

The course is just one element of Swale council’s £20 million Sheerness Revival project, which is being funded with money from the government’s Levelling Up fund.

It aims to improve health and wellbeing, education and leisure facilities on the Island and create new employment and training opportunities.

It includes a makeover of Beachfields, which has been a destination for leisure since the 1840s.

The revamp will see Etec Group build a new two-storey side extension of the Sheppey Leisure Complex.

There will also be an expanded GP facility on the ground floor and a new footpath between Sheerness railway station and the centre.

Beachfields paddling pool has also been closed until next summer as it is undergoing a facelift.

Meanwhile, work started just a stone's throw away on the £5.4 million expansion of East Kent College Sheppey in February, which is also being paid for by the grant.

The former council offices at Masters House in Trinity Road are also being refurbished, with new workshop spaces being created there.