More than 360,000 cubic metres of sand will be added to a beach on the Norfolk Coast as part of an £8.8m project to prevent the Broads from flooding.

Work to limit the flood risk to the Broads from the coast between Happisburgh and Winterton is well under way and recharging the beach with sand begins on Monday .

Three out of nine new rock groynes have been finished with rocks brought in by sea from Norway on a 20,000 tonne barge. They replace existing timber and steel groynes between Horsey and Winterton Ness Gap.

Other parts of the scheme involve recharging the beach with 360,000m3 of sand between Sea Palling and Poplar Farm Gap, reconstruction of a 275m long section of rock revetment (rocks placed to protect the seawall from wave action) at Eccles and 25,000m3 of beach recycling (the relocation of a small amount of sand from behind a reef to an area where the beach is low, also at Eccles).

The scheme is a direct result of the Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) for the area, which recommended that along the coast from Eccles to Winterton the line of existing flood defences should be held until at least the medium term (the next 50 years) and will be completed by early January next year.

The new groynes will add to a series of offshore reefs constructed around the site in 1993 and 1997 to protect the most vulnerable areas and bring protection to 500 houses.

Story by Dan Grimmer in the Norwich Evening News