A LONG-AWAITED £900,000 revamp of the Diglis area of Worcester has been endorsed by council chiefs - who have vowed to create something to be proud of.

The city council's cabinet has given its backing to an 11-point blueprint to improve the Diglis fields and river basin to make it more of an attraction.

As your Worcester News revealed last week it includes outdoor gym equipment, a massive play area, sprucing up of the allotments, resurfacing Severn Way footpath, revamping the river basin walk-through to link the riverside to Cherry Orchard nature reserve, and better facilities for Worcester and District Model Engineers' group to detail just a few.

it also includes new trails, access gates, benches, planting and a refreshed mowing schedule to encourage flowering.

Councillor Andy Roberts, cabinet member for cleaner and greener, speaking during a cabinet meeting said: "This is important not only to Diglis but the whole city.

"My wife and I regularly walk through this area and it's often lost on people what great views it provides of the city.

"Perhaps it's been undervalued in the past, but it won't be undervalued once this work is done."

Councillor Simon Geraghty, the leader, said: "This is an ambitious project and it's great to see those riverside improvements because I think many people see this (the old canal basin before Diglis bridge) as the 'missing link'.

"I'm really keen to see it improved and want to crack on."

During the meeting Councillor Lynn Denham, who represents the area, turned up to say it had "wide enthusiasm" from the public.

The council intends to start on-site early next year, starting with the play equipment.

It wants to complete the entire revamp over a two-year period through to the end of 2016 and plans more talks with third party landowners over trying to boost car parking provision on parcels of industrial land.

After the meeting Francis Lankester, chairman of volunteer group the Friends of Diglis Fields, said: "We are very glad to see the project moving ahead and that we will see a wonderful new play area in the first stage.

"It's also great to see the council taking local residents' concerns about parking seriously so we can safeguard the green verge on Diglis Lane.

"Hopefully the negotiations with the Canals and Rivers Trust will lead to successfully putting parking on the industrial estate and we thank Councillor Geraghty for the hard work he has done to bring this about."

The money is coming from developers who have already secured planning permission for new homes, under deals known as Section 106 agreements.