A TOURIST attraction in Clevedon could soon benefit from hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Organisers working on plans to revamp Marine Lake have been given �40,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to enable them to bid for more money to improve the facility.

North Somerset Council, the Marine Lake Enthusiasts Society (MARLENS) and the Civic Society will now be putting together a bid for more than �300,000 from the funding body.

Joe Norman, MARLENS chairman said: “It’s tremendously good news. We put a lot of work in to the bid and it’s great that we can now take it forward.

“The main project we hope to do if we get the extra money is to redo the outer wall of the Marine Lake.

“In its initial design, there was a much better set up for maintenance and refilling.

“It had a pump to refill and lots of sluices to drain. These have got lost over the years.

“It’s now very important to protect the outer wall and stop leakage. We need to create a new wall inside the old wall.

“We also need to put in an extra ramp at one end of the lake for people with wheelchairs and pushchairs.”

The proposals include improving a small bathing pool at one end of the site for younger swimmers, introducing a new launching ramp and refurbishing and updating the facility near the Salthouse Fields.

Mr Norman said: “We now have to put together an organisation which will look after Marine Lake in the future.

“We have to show that we will carry it forward once the basic work has been done.

“If we are successful we hope to get the money in the summer of 2014 to start work in the winter.

“The MARLENS festival showed how enthusiastic everyone is for Marine Lake and how much they value it.”

Marine Lake was built in 1929, but by 2004 it had become derelict. MARLENS was formed to try to bring it back into efficient working order.

Despite both the MARLENS and North Somerset Council carrying out repairs over the years, a leak in the outer wall means water levels keep falling in parts.