Coastal towns in Britain should build art galleries and champion creative industries if they want to overcome years of economic decay, according to a House of Lords report.
Towns including Margate, Folkestone and St Ives have benefited from arts-led regeneration and similar investment in areas such as Blackpool and Scarborough could stimulate the local economies, it said.
From 2018 to 2020 Arts Council England gave more than £64m to creative organisations in coastal areas. Since it was established in 1994 the Heritage Lottery Fund has contributed £373m to more than 2,000 projects.