A long-awaited coastal scheme aimed at protecting £6m worth of properties at Niton has been given the go-ahead by the government.

Estimated at £4m, the scheme at Castlehaven is the largest coastal protection project to be undertaken on the Island.

Providing negotiations go well over acquisition of land for environmental mitigation, it is hoped site works will get under way at the end of August.

Island council coastal manager Robin McInnes said it was welcome news.

Mr McInnes added: "Apart from the infrastructure, including roads and underground services, some 40 properties are at significant risk if this work does not go ahead, and as we have seen elsewhere along the south coast of the Island, new landslips can be sudden and devastating."

It was back in 1994 that a scheme for Castlehaven was first mooted, following serious landslides in the area. Since then the council has tried to meet environmental concerns over the scheme, including the threat to colonies of rare bees and wasps.

The final hurdle has now been cleared, following a government inquiry that heard and over-ruled objections from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust.

In recommending the scheme's go-ahead, the flood management division of the Department of the environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it was satisfied it was technically sound and economically worthwhile.

The scheme will involve the positioning of rock armour stone along a 550 metre stretch of shoreline from Castlehaven towards Puckaster Point, with a series of upper slope drainage works.