A BID to name a road after a popular Worcester councillor has been accepted by the authority he has served for more than 40 years.

Worcester City Council has revealed that it has no objection to immortalising the name Mike Layland in a new development in Diglis, where the councillor was brought up.

The idea was first mooted by Coun Layland's childhood friend, Tony Hail. His suggestion received the backing of many other residents of the area.

The firm behind the new development, Taylor Woodrow, put forward a suggestion to the council for the road name. Now this has been accepted, the firm must put in an official request for a particular street.

Stephen Cleveley, senior sales manager for Bryant Homes, the UK housing brand of Taylor Woodrow, said: "Once we reach a phase of our Diglis Water development where a new road is required, we will be filing an official application to name it after Mike Layland.

"We hope Mike and his family will feel proud to have his name commemorated - it's only fitting to honour someone who has done so much for the people of Worcester and we also recognise his deeply personal links to the site.

"Mike was also a strong voice in the push to redevelop Diglis and we're happy he lent his support to bringing the project to fruition.

"We acknowledge that Diglis has a rich history and means a great deal to many local people, which we've embraced in our development. As well as the plans to honour Mike, we have historical photographs displayed in the marketing suite and we plan to commission a permanent display recording the history of the site in a public area, once the development is complete."

Coun Layland has been one of Worcester's highest profile council members for nearly 40 years. He was born at 15 Diglis Road a little before the Second World War, just down the road from his friend Mr Hail.

Coun Layland said: "This is an absolute honour. I am flattered. This will mean a lot to my family as we are still very-much diglis-oriented.

"I am very grateful to my old mate Tony for suggesting a road be named after me, and for the council and the developers for agreeing to it."

Once complete, the Diglis Water development will include approximately 420 homes, as well as commercial units, shops, cafs, restaurants and a fitness centre.