The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has announced the first seaside resort towns to benefit from the government’s £45m Sea Change funding initiative.

Blackpool, Dover and Torbay will be the first coastal resorts to receive £4m each towards cultural and heritage projects.

The grants are the first to be made as part of the Sea Change scheme, a new funding programme which aims to kick start wider economic regeneration in coastal areas through specific investment in culture and heritage.

The three-year programme will give £45m to coastal resorts, and is being led by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE).

Culture secretary Andy Burnham said: “ "Our seaside resorts are much loved and an integral part of English culture but some of them are looking a bit faded and no longer attract as many visitors as they did.

"Many hold hidden treasures and this money provides a much needed boost to the resorts. This year Blackpool, Torbay and Dover and a dozen other towns will benefit, and by the end of the programme in 2011 the regeneration of many of our coastal resorts will be firmly underway."

The government hopes that the scheme will act as catalysts for further economic regeneration in the towns, bringing in new visitors and revenue as well as giving the local residents a new cultural heart in the community.

The key criterion in choosing the resorts is that they are areas of social and economic deprivation in need of regeneration.

In addition to the three major grants, the programme also includes up to 12 smaller grants of £200,000 to £1,000,000, to be distributed via open application programme.

Tourism minister, Margaret Hodge, said: “Our objective is to have a spread across all coastal areas. There have been discussions with a number of east coast resorts including Great Yarmouth, which have some exciting proposals which we hope will develop into projects the programme can support."

The government is inviting all coastal resorts with a cultural project to apply for the funding. The deadline for applications has been set for June 2008.