A company researching the potential of wave energy has been awarded £727,000 to continue its development.

Checkmate Seaenergy, based in Sheerness, was given the cash by Wave Energy Scotland, an initiative backed by the Holyrood government.

The business has spent six years developing a patented device called the Anaconda, which converts wave energy into electricity.

It gained the funding after successful testing in wave tanks in Haslar near Portsmouth and Strathclyde near Glasgow.

The device is made up of a rubber bulge tube and “power take-off”.

The cash-injection will be used to develop a new prototype and to improve its “tube absorber technology”.

The firm’s chief executive is Des Crampton, a former managing director of Medway Ports in Sheerness Docks and an ex-engineering manager at the town’s old steel works.

Chairman Paul Auston said: “The funding represents a significant milestone in the Anaconda journey.

“Investment into the invention has been mainly funded by Checkmate from its own resources.

“With Wave Energy Scotland, an arm of the Scottish government, providing, cumulatively, over a million pounds of additional investment, this is a clear signal of confidence in the invention and in its ability to deliver a step change in the costs of generating electrical power from the waters around coastal areas.”