WEYMOUTH and Portland’s economy is set for a multi-million pound boost thanks to a £5million refurbishment at Portland Port.

Work to maintain, conserve and extend the Queen’s Pier will allow more large vessels such as the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Bay class as well as commercial and cruise ships to moor along the quayside in Portland.

The people behind the scheme say the work will also benefit the borough’s economy because they want to hire local workers to make the scheme happen. The work is due to start in spring, and finish by late summer.

Portland Port chief executive Steve Davies said: “The refurbishment of the Queen’s Pier benefits the local community through employment and spending, both during and after construction, and will result in more shipping business encouraged to pass through the port.

“It gives the port a competitive advantage with facilities to attract more international shipping contracts, which adds a benefit for the wider economy of the South West.”

The work will be performed by Kier Construction Ltd, and a local company, Paisley Plant Hire Ltd.

Jamie Bee of Kier Construction said: “We will endeavour to use local contractors and suppliers throughout the project.

“All Kier staff will be staying at local hotels or appropriate local lettings.”

The project manager also explained what the team will be doing to lessen any potential disruption due to noise.

“This includes taking special measures to monitor the noise levels and keeping in touch with the public to tell them when works will be taking place.

“No work will take place during night-time periods but some work will extend in to weekends.

“We do not anticipate these activities having a significant impact, but will monitor the situation.”

Project manager David Hallett said the work involved large steel piles being hammered into the seabed by a crane floating on a pontoon.

He added: “Queen’s Pier is a mature structure that has been there since the 1950s and is in need of a bit of TLC.

“We are taking great care to make sure we do not disrupt over-wintering birds at the Fleet, Ferrybridge and Chesil Beach. We also have to demonstrate that we are not going to upset the shellfish by disturbing the mud.”

Richard Paisley. the managing director of Paisley Plant Hire, said the firm, which is based at Portland Port, had carried out the piling for previous berth improvements at Queen’s Pier.

He added: “We are a Portland company – we are based at Portland Port and all our employees live on Portland.

“We have a team of six working on this project.

“We are pleased to be working with Portland Port on the Queen’s Pier refurbishment.”