MARINE experts have started surveying the seabed in preparation for the new Weymouth Pavilion.

Developer Howard Holdings has commissioned experts Fugro Seacore to drill boreholes into the seabed close to the site of the planned £100 million development.

The survey will form part of the planning application due to go before Weymouth and Portland Borough Council later this summer. Work started on Sunday when experts used satellite technology to check the seabed for foreign objects such as unexploded Second World War bombs.

A jack-up rig measuring 12 metres by eight metres will be put in place next week. It will be used to drill seven over-water boreholes to enable samples to be taken from each layer of the seabed.

Critics of the plans have claimed the site is not suitable for a 150-berth marina due to the affect on Weymouth Harbour's sea defences.

When the findings are analysed developers hope to have a better idea how to protect the planned Pavilion, hotel, housing and marina from the sea.

Gary Charman, regional director at Howard Holdings, said: "The start of the marine-based site investigation will determine the make-up of the seabed and provide further information for both the design and construction of the scheme."

The findings of the drilling will help to determine sand and silt levels as well as the depth or bedding of materials down to the Oxford Clay - a Jurassic marine sedimentary rock.

The survey is the second of three being done by Howard Holdings.

The first, an economic survey by Bournemouth University, has already been completed. A second marine survey is due to start at the end of the month.