A South Devon surf school has secured a £10,000 grant to increase the range of courses it offers.

Discovery Surf School, based at Bigbury-on-Sea, is to add RNLI surf lifeguard qualifications to the activities it schedules.

The new courses, which Discovery says are the first of their kind available on the coast between Bournemouth and Cornwall, will also include training for would-be instructors.

The £10,000 cost of establishing them will be covered by funds from the South Devon Coastal Local Action Group, which was sourced for Discovery by Plymouth-based grant finance specialist, the Biscuit Group.

Martin Connolly, who established Discovery in 2002, said the funding would cover the expense of specialist gear including surfboards, rescue mannequins and resuscitation equipment.

This is the first significant grant funding win for the business which Mr Connolly grew from the back of a surf bus on the sea front, equipped with wetsuits and boards borrowed from friends.

He said: "I built up the business, while I was also working on another job.

"It took three to four years for it to make any money.

"Looking back, a lump sum at the beginning would have made a lot of difference, but this way, the business has grown organically.

"We haven't had a year in which it has not grown."

The firm also runs surfing courses out of Whitsand Bay.