TOWN councillors at Bridport have pledged their support for the creation of an angling jetty at West Bay.

At a meeting of the finance and general purposes committee on Wednesday, they agreed to look at ways to help in setting up a trust that would manage a jetty.

There is no provision for angling within the new harbour improvement scheme.

But it could be created in the future if immediate piling - at a cost of around £45,000 - is carried out on the new west pier. The jetty itself, which would allow people to fish over the rock armour, will cost about £230,000.

District council officers have said they could not support it, but the authority's members have forced a turnaround in thinking.

Now, the town council also looks set to investigate possibilities of raising funds from national bodies such as Sport England and the Countryside Commission.

Council leader Roger Draper suggested that the town clerk could investigate and report back on whether the authority could be the "lead body" in getting an angling jetty for the harbour.

Said Coun Humphrey Dibdin: "It's very important that we should sponsor some sort of trust. Trusts are able to get grants whereas a local authority is not."

Coun Keith Cast said: "I am 100 per cent behind it. It's always been a feature of West Bay and it's increasing." Standing orders were suspended to allow West Bay Sea Angling Club spokesman Maureen Jackson to speak at the meeting.

She said that public consultation had showed that only seven per cent of people were not in favour of an angling jetty and seven per cent were not concerned one way or the other.

It was her understanding that the district council could be liable if they took away an angling jetty without replacing it and then someone injured themselves fishing in an unsuitable area such as the rock armour.

After the meeting, Mrs Jackson said that there had been a great response to a petition calling for the public's support. This will be presented to next week's executive committee of the district council.

And she said that West Bay auxiliary coastguard leader Rob Malpas had been one of the signatories.

He had told her that if a safe surface was not provided, then people would put themselves at risk by fishing from the rocks. And he also said that anglers, many of whom were out in all weathers, were quiet and observant and often invaluable when it came to helping in coastal searches.

In response to comments made last week, Mrs Jackson said that during the six month consultation period, the West Bay steering group had discussed alternative options for the jetty with district council officers. The decision as to the most appropriate way forward was made by the engineering manager, she said.

"The term angling jetty is rather misleading - it is the name given to a safe surface integral to the west pier, enabling people to fish over the rock armour," she said.

"As leader of the Tourism focus group of the market and coastal town initiative and the chair of the newly-formed Bridport and District Tourism Association, of course the needs of the visitors are important.

"However, sustainable tourism means it enhances the way of life of local people as much as possible and the aim is cause minimum disruption.

"The revenue brought into the area by visiting anglers and locals is essential to West Bay during the winter as well as the summer."

Improvements costing £1 million are to be carried out in the Bay, primarily on toilet facilities, signage, parking and traffic management. But Mrs Jackson said this had not yet been assigned to projects.

Meanwhile, the pier under construction was put to the test during this week's storms. Eye witnesses said that it was swaying from side to side.

The district council's principal engineer, Nick Browning, said that it sustained minor damage.

"Completed sections of the pier were not affected, but parts of the temporary frame, used to guide the piles as they are being installed, and some partly driven steel piles were dislodged by the waves.

"Weather conditions at this very exposed site are taken into account in planning working methods and weather delays are allowed for it the programme. The contractor, Costain Ltd, is already working to check and re-erect the piling frame and this should be completed within a few days."