COMMUNITY leaders say Weymouth and Portland is fighting its own corner as calls are made for more to be done to improve seaside towns.

A report released today from the British Hospitality Association (BHA) claims people living in the nation's seaside towns are more likely to be poorly educated, unemployed and 'lack ambition'.

Weymouth and Portland has faced similar accusations before, with an article in the Observer in 2014 describing the area as a "graveyard for ambition" and former Sun editor Kelvin Mackenzie earlier this year labelling Weymouth the "Brassic Coast".

The BHA says nine out of the 10 most deprived neighbourhoods in England are seaside communities. although it does cite the successful promotion of Dorset's Jurassic Coast as an example for others to follow.

It has drawn up a seven-point action plan to breathe new life into seaside towns as it calls on the government to do more to protect seaside towns.

The plan include the appointment of a Seaside Tsar to coordinate a coherent response across all departments and spending and create a "progressive tax environment" to encourage investment in coastal businesses.

Other proposals include the creation of Coastal Enterprise zones and investment in critical infrastructure as well as education and training for young people.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council's spokesman for harbour and tourism Cllr Jason Osborne, who is also a hotelier, said that while times were difficult for many seaside communities, the report actually came at a time when the borough was thriving in many areas.

He said Weymouth had received accolades for its harbour and beach in recent months while the news that the Dunkirk film was to be shot in the area would also bring investment.

Cllr Osborne said: "Weymouth is in a wonderful position at the moment, we are getting so much good publicity it's unheard of and hasn't been seen before for a long, long time.

"What we are doing I imagine is going to be noted by other seaside towns as a model for them to move forward."

He added that the market was changing in terms of the hospitality industry, with more people coming down for short breaks rather than two-week stays and coming to enjoy events such as the Seafood Festival, which again attracted thousands of visitors over the weekend.

He recognised there were some areas that did still need to be addressed, particularly when it came to education and he had been speaking with Weymouth College to look at addressing training needs for certain "skill sets" where there was currently a shortage in the area.

Weymouth BID manager Nigel Reed said he accepted that, as with all seaside communities, there were still areas the town needed to address but added that it has "a lot of positives going for it".

He pointed to the new Melcombe Regis group set up to tackle social deprivation in the town centre as well as work done by the BID and other organisations as signs that Weymouth was taking action.

Mr Reed said: "I think we can't deny there are these issues around but I do, however, think Weymouth has a lot of positives going for it and people like ourselves are here to promote it and try and encourage more people in.

"Weymouth is already trying to deal with some of these things with groups like the Melcombe Regis task force that have pushed into it."

Mr Reed also addressed the claims regarding a lack of ambition, saying that Weymouth has produced a number of very successful people and a range of industries such as engineering and textiles were thriving.