The final piece of the funding package to support a £11.9m scheme to improve St Mary’s and Penzance harbours has been confirmed.

has been welcomed by the partnership which will be delivering the £11.9m scheme.

The sea link between the mainland and the Isles of Scilly is a vital lifeline for the communities and businesses of Scilly, providing transport for the majority of freight and carrying more than 80,000 passengers to and from the Isles.

The improvements to the two harbours, which includes carrying out pier widening and improving freight handling facilities at St Mary’s and dredging at Penzance, will help safeguard the future of the sea link by creating deeper water berths which will increase the range of vessels which could potentially provide the service in the future.

Last month the Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin announced that the Department for Transport was making £6.347m available for the harbour works at St Mary's, together with dredging and traffic management improvements for the harbour at Penzance.

The Department for Transport is also giving Cornwall Council a further £976,000 to cover the costs of preparatory works for the scheme. These costs would normally be met by the local authority.

The remaining funding was due to come from Europe and this week it was confirmed that the scheme had been awarded £5.560m from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

This announcement means that the works can now begin, with the dredging and highways work at Penzance expected to be completed by March 31 next year, and the harbour extension and other works at St Mary’s due to be completed by June 30.

The scheme has been developed by a partnership including Cornwall Council, Council of the Isles of Scilly, Penzance Town Council, Duchy of Cornwall, Isles of Scilly Steamship Company and Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership, with support from West Cornwall MP Andrew George.

Cornwall Council is the Accountable Body for the funding and will ensure the improvements at Penzance and St Mary's Harbours are delivered.

Bert Biscoe, Cornwall Council’s cabinet member for transport and waste, said “The link between Penzance and the Isles of Scilly is a vital component in linking the Island communities to the mainland. It is always important that the sort of partnership that has given rise to this project is in place to ensure that all the British Islands are able to enjoy the benefits of resilient and modern transport. It is good to know we can now giss’on with these works”.

Cormac Solutions Ltd have been appointed to undertake a design and build contract to provide the highway improvements to facilitate the development.

Kier Infrastructure have been appointed as the design and construct contractor for the St Mary’s Harbour Improvements and Peter Madsen Rederi A/S will be carrying out dredging within the Penzance Harbour and the Harbour entrance as part of the upgrade to the Penzance – St Mary’s sea link.