TWO North Yorkshire ports are to be improved to the tune of more than £500,000 over the next two years.

The Government has given Scarborough Borough Council the go-ahead to borrow the money to pay for refurbishment work at Whitby and Scarborough harbours.

Whitby will receive £425,000, with Scarborough getting £100,000.

Keith Allen, head of harbours and engineering services for the council, said the work could take place at any time between April this year and April 2003. He said talks had now begun on drawing up a detailed timetable.

"Maintaining the structure of a harbour is very expensive. Whitby harbour, in particular, and Scarborough, are elderly harbours, and a large part of Scarborough harbour is a listed building - the piers there are listed."

He said work at both ports would include work on sheet steel piling - the metal layers visitors can see in the side of the harbour walls. He said these were susceptible to a problem called "accelerated low-water corrosion" which was corrosion around the low-water mark which could now be reinforced. There would also be repair work to the swing bridge in Whitby and to remove contaminated silt at Scarborough.

Archaeologists are to use a mechanical digger in an attempt to salvage possible valuable relics in soil on the edge of cliffs near Whitby Abbey.

Updated: 10:03 Saturday, January 20, 2001