TWO Worcester green spaces could be bidding for coveted national status to place them among the very best in Britain.

Council chiefs want to secure 'Green Flag' awards for Fort Royal Park and the riverside corridor to help boost city tourism.

Worcester's status as a city featuring top class open spaces has grown in recent years, with Cripplegate and Gheluvelt parks both having the Green Flag accolade.

Now the city council wants to go further, saying it is considering bidding for Fort Royal and the riverside corridor to be added to the list by January 2018.

A meeting of the Labour cabinet is taking place on Tuesday where the leadership will be asked to endorse the strategy.

If it gives the plan the nod, a 'Green Flag action plan' will be put together to try and give both sites the best chance of succeeding.

Councillor Jabba Riaz, cabinet member for clean, green and leisure services, said: "Worcester already has a strong reputation for the quality of its parks.

"The crucial green area bordering the River Severn has the potential to attract a far greater number of tourists and securing a Green Flag would help us to achieve this.

"Fort Royal Park is a much-loved park with superb views across our beautiful city and very popular play areas.

"I believe we can make a very strong argument for it being awarded the coveted Green Flag."

Fort Royal Park, which sits next to The Commandery, is known for its top standards of horticultural management and boasts a recently-updated play area.

The riverside corridor is the label handed to the four-mile long corridor of green space bordering the riverside stretching from Diglis to Gheluvelt Park.

It links Chapter Meadows, Diglis Fields and the Cherry Orchard Nature Reserve.

Back in June we revealed how the council had teamed up the Environment Agency and the Canal and Rivers Trust to launch the 'Riverside Park' project.

Under the suggestion, that riverside network stretching from Northwick all the way down to Cherry Orchard Nature Service will be revamped.

Council chiefs say the aim is to ensure the stretch has "all the attractions" of a traditional park like play facilities, grassed sections and flowers, although there is no timescale in place for it yet.