LOTTERY funding for the restoration of a much-loved Art Deco lido can pour in now it has been granted a lease.

Saltdean Lido had been waiting on a council decision before it could start to get its hands on £4 million of national lottery funding.

Yesterday, Brighton and Hove City Council granted it a 63-year lease. Now, it can access some of the £4.2 million lottery cash and the work is one step closer to starting.

The main building is on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register and in a dilapidated condition. It has been closed to the public for some time.

Extensive repairs are needed because the structure is under attack from the salt in sea-dredged gravel that was used in its construction. The salty sea air is also proving corrosive.

In 1938 its innovative reinforced concrete structure supported the lido’s streamlined design, but it has suffered decades of wear.

The lido has already attracted external grants and run crowdfunding campaigns to bring the open-air pool back into use at a cost of £3 million.

The community interest company (CIC) behind the project wants to revive the rundown 1930s’ building and had already lined up much of the £8 million needed for the work.

But the biggest sum was a conditional grant of £4.2 million from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

One of the conditions was that the CIC had to get a lease for the site. Now, that has been met and the project can get going.

Lido director Derek Leaver said: “This is a significant step forward in Saltdean Lido’s history, as securing the lease enables us to access funds to start engaging with structural engineers and architects.

“We need to design how we can restore the building within the guidelines set by Historic England and the National Heritage Lottery fund while providing a sustainable building for use by the community.

“We thank everyone who has generously helped raise funds and volunteered so far for this historic project and look forward to presenting plans for getting the best use out of this potentially lovely building in due course.

“The project is currently costed at just under £8 million and we need to continue to fundraise for the last £700,000, which is required before we can actually start any of the building work.”

The closure of the pool this summer – three years after it was reopened – has been a temporary setback but the fundraising work continues.

You can donate to the Saltdean Lido Trust at https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/saltdeanlido/.