'Left behind' community to get £20m funding boost

MP Antonia Bance said the funding was "really exciting news"

A £20m funding boost for a "left behind" part of the West Midlands has been hailed as "really exciting" by the area's MP.

Antonia Bance said Friar Park in Wednesbury would receive the funding across a 10-year period under the government's Pride in Place programme.

Friar Park was named as one of 330 communities across the UK to receive a share of the funding allocated to neglected areas of the country.

Bance, Labour MP for Tipton and Wednesbury, told BBC Midlands today: "It's for investing in community facilities, for green spaces and to help people find jobs. "It's a recognition that Friar Park has been left behind for too long."

She described the funding as "our money" and said it would be for residents to decide how it was spent.

"Local people should feel really excited about the possibilities of what we can do with this money in Friar Park," she added.

As part of the Pride in Place programme unveiled by prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, communities would be given new powers, the government said, which could be used to buy boarded-up shops, save derelict pubs and block unwanted outlets on their high streets.

Other communities in Birmingham and the Black Country which will receive funding under the programme include:

• Hawkesley, Birmingham Northfield

• Druids Heath, Birmingham Selly Oak

• Glebe Farm, Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North

• Kingstanding South East, Birmingham Erdington

• Woodgate, Birmingham Edgbaston

• Chelmsley Wood East, Meridian and Solihull East

• Sparkbrook North, Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley

• Blakenall South, Walsall and Bloxwich

• Fox Hollies, Birmingham Yardley

• Nechells, Birmingham Ladywood