STOURPORT has its eye on hundreds of thousands of pounds of funding for a rejuvenation programme.

It has "regeneration needs" according to a report carried out for regional development agency Advantage West Midlands which is deciding who will get most support under the new Market Towns Initiative.

An agency task group meets at the end of the month to find the "highest priority" applicants and Wyre Forest District Council is pushing Stourport's case in a bid to tackle "key needs including Bridge Street, Sandy Lane Industrial Estate, traffic congestion and issues of disadvantage".

Bewdley was awarded about £20,000 under the initiative earlier this year and Stourport may get a similar initial sum for consultation - and a grant worth hundreds of thousands of pounds could follow.

Steve Singleton, the council's economic development and tourism manager, claimed Stourport was a "classic case" of a town that could benefit from funding for "environmentally enhancing projects".

He said: "A lot of it is about giving places a spring clean - very relevant for Stourport as it is a tourist town.

"There's no guarantee that it will be given. There's a task group meeting at the end of the month to see whether medium-priority towns can be made high-priority.

"The council is always pressing the case."

In 2000 Stourport and other parts of Wyre Forest missed out on help from a £150 million budget to curb deprivation in the West Midlands, and the town also failed to get a grant under the EU's Objective Two funding programme.

John Gordon, a Stourport district councillor and a member of the Worcestershire County Council cabinet, said: "All interested parties are pulling together to make this happen.

"It's a wonderful opportunity for outside funding. We've been bypassed and overlooked for many, many years.

"It will address many of the problems that people hear about."