AN ambitious £20 million plan to improve more than 80 miles of Worcestershire's roads and upgrade street lights has been revealed.

Worcestershire County Council has made a bid for £12.1 million of Government cash towards a package which includes:

- Funding for a new three-year plan to improve 83 miles of road across Worcestershire by 2018

- It will firstly focus around the key four assets of Worcester Technology Park, Malvern Hills Science Park, Redditch Eastern Gateway and south Kidderminster Enterprise Park, improving road surfaces on all the routes leading to each site

- Cash to improve all cycling routes in Worcester, Droitwich, Stourport and Bewdley

- 21,000 of the county's oldest street lights will be replaced with super-modern LED lanterns, and 1,200 ugly concrete columns will be taken down for steel ones

The three-year programme of road improvements would effectively restore the condition of the county's roads network to levels enjoyed prior to the damage caused by the severe weather over recent winters.

The council says the oldest street lights date back to the late 1980s.

The concrete columns are in various states of decay and their replacement over the next few years would be a continuation of a scheme which has already seen 4,000 upgraded.

Councillor Adrian Hardman, county council leader, said: "We think it's a strong bid and we are excited by this opportunity to potentially obtain further funding for the county to deliver local schemes with Government help.

"This is designed to continue improving the infrastructure of the county which will benefit road users, businesses and ultimately everyone living in Worcestershire."

If the bid is successful, the county council will top up the £12.1 million with £7.8 million of its own cash, creating a £19.9 million pot.

The bid to central Government is to try and grab a slice of the £275 million 'Challenge Fund' which councils have been invited to compete for, with announcements due on it later this month.

It comes amid a project to switch off 17,000 of Worcestershire's street lights between midnight and 6am.

It launched back in April, with around a third of the county's 52,000 lights included in the roll-out, which will be finished early next year.

The controversial tactic is aimed at saving £2.6 million in energy costs.