THOUSANDS of jobs could be created at North Yorkshire's coast line after the region received part of a £16 million Government funding.

Scarborough Borough Council is to receive £2,599,373 to develop Whitby Business Park, which is expected to help create 206 direct jobs and 2,500 indirect jobs in the local economy.

About £1 million from the Coastal Communities Fund grant will be injected in to the business park to open up land and improve infrastructure in readiness for the creation of Europe’s largest offshore wind farm near Dogger Bank and the planned new potash mine near the village of Sneaton, a few miles outside Whitby.

The remainder of the grant will be used to subsidise 200 apprenticeships in engineering and manufacturing in the borough; fund training and business support for enterprises linked to the potash, renewable energy and other local industries; support enterprise “boot camps” for young people in the Borough; and help fund the second phase of the council’s Jobmatch project, which in phase one saw more than 1,000 people recruited by 300 companies.

Coun Derek Bastiman, cabinet portfolio holder for strategic planning and regeneration, said: “The potash mine and offshore wind industry have the potential to completely transform the area and bring a new dimension to the local economy which for so long has relied heavily on tourism."

North York Moors Historical Railway Trust is also to receive £800,000 to develop the North York Moors heritage railway service linking Whitby to the North York Moors National Park. The project is expected to create 15 new jobs on the railway service and 52 jobs indirectly in Whitby’s tourism sector.