DORSET County Council says it has secured grants worth more than £25million over the past year to support projects across the county.

The authority made 25 successful bids for external funding during 2009/10, a report to Cabinet members has revealed.

More than half of the money (just under £14 million) will be used to fund transport improvements for Weymouth in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics.

But other projects to benefit include the Future Jobs Fund (£3.4 million) to create hundreds of new employment opportunities for young people, £3 million to rebuild Weymouth’s Steps club for young people and develop the town’s Outdoor Education Centre and £1.9 million to support post-19 learning provision.

It brings the total amount of external funding secured by the county council over the past three years to more than £70 million – and 13 further bids from 2009/10 are still pending a decision.

Most of the grants came from central Government, through departments such as DEFRA and the Department for Education, but money has also come from the European Union, regional and nation bodies such as the Skills Funding Agency, and the National Lottery.

In total, 87 per cent of funding the county council bid for in 2009/10 was secured.

Spencer Flower, cabinet member for corporate resources, said it was vitally important to attract extra funding to Dorset at a time when council budgets are under more pressure than ever.

He added: “There were some significant successes in our last round of funding bids and we will continue to seek out similar opportunities over the coming year.

“As we move into a period of austerity and public money becomes scarce, it could be more difficult to tap into these funding streams.

“But if anything, that makes it even more important that we identify grant opportunities and put together strong bids for Dorset.”