FAIRER funding campaigners for Worcestershire could be on the road to victory after the Government revealed it is changing the way money is dished out.

Worcester MP Michael Foster said he was hopeful that the county's councils, schools and police could be in line for a bigger share of Government spending.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister unveiled five alternatives to the current Area Cost Adjustment formula - four of which would give the county a funding boost.

Worcestershire has lost out in the past because it does not qualify for ACA, awarded to areas deemed to have higher costs, like the South-East. But, after years of campaigning, the ODPM is reviewing the system.

Mr Foster said: "There are five options listed and Worcestershire gains from four of them, and very substantially from one.

"More detail is going to be needed to look at the package as a whole but potentially this battle over area cost adjustment could be starting to be won. It's early days. There is a whole lot more that needs to be looked at before anyone nails their colours to the mast."