CITY primary schools are set to benefit from an increase in a sports grant, which has been funded by the 'sugar tax'.

The Department of Education announced that it was doubling the PE and Sport Premium from £160m to £320m per year on Tuesday.

The grant will increase from £8,000 to £16,000 for each primary school with 17 or more eligible pupils.

Education bosses have funded the increase through the soft drinks industry levy, which is commonly known as the 'sugar tax'.

Robin Walker, MP for Worcester, said: "It means that the amount most primary schools receive will be doubling.

"It means they could take on another coach to help with activity. Hopefully this will reduce obesity among young people.

"It will help lead to health lives and reduce pressure on the NHS.

"Channelling money towards encouraging healthy lifestyles is a good thing to do. It's a good area to be investing in."

Mr Walker said the sugar tax was designed to encourage soft drinks' manufactures and the food industry to reduce high sugar products.

Stephen Brewster, chief executive officer of Sports Partnership Herefordshire and Worcestershire, praised the 'massive investment' at a Worcester City Council communities committee on Tuesday.

He said: "The source is the sugar tax. Last year we roughly got £8,000 [per school] and it's doubled.

"This money has certain strings attached to it, we try to steer them [schools] in the right direction.

"We plan to have meetings to tell them what to do with this money. There are certain things they must do and those are things we support them in.

"We can give them the support they need to make the most of this money."

A further £100m was announced for school facilities yesterday, which will be funded by the healthy pupils capital fund.