A BID for hundreds of thousands of pounds has been submitted in the hope of finally repairing Clevedon’s leaking Marine Lake.

The seafront facility has been patched-up numerous times over the years to try to cope with the many leaks which spring from its sea wall but, now, it is hoped these could be fixed for the foreseeable future.

On Friday, an application for �360,000 was submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund by North Somerset Council.

If successful, the money will be used to fix the sea wall but also to improve the smaller bathing pool for younger swimmers, introduce a new launching ramp and generally refurbish the popular facility.

North Somerset Council consulted with Clevedon Civic Society, town councillors and members of MARLENS, the group which works to promote use of the lake, before submitting the bid.

At a meeting of Clevedon Town Council’s town events and amenities committee on May 23, North Somerset Council’s senior green space officer Gareth Withers said: “I am very hopeful it has been well put together and that we are going to get a successful answer from the lottery.”

At the meeting it was explained the lake has recently been emptied after it began leaking more than normal.

Mr Withers added: “We had a look at repairing some of the basic leaks on it and we have done a basic repair job.

“We also have some large machines going in to take some of the silt out of the bottom. With the next high tide it should fill up again.”

Clevedon’s Marine Lake was built in 1929 but by 2004 it had become derelict. MARLENS was formed to bring it back into use but it is still in need of repair.

In July, it was revealed a previous bid for �1million submitted by North Somerset Council to the Heritage Lottery Fund to overhaul many areas of Clevedon’s Victorian seafront had been rejected.

After this, the unitary authority decided to put together a second bid to concentrate solely on the Marine Lake.