Two Blackburn sports pitches are to benefit from the government's 'Levelling Up' cash.

Money from the government grant will be used to repair and renovate the multi use games areas (MUGAs) in Philips Road and Troy Street.

Blackburn with Darwen Council has successfully secured £20 million its Levelling Up Partnership with the Government.

As well as investing in the likes of King George’s Hall, Imperial Mill and The Exchange, the authority has set aside £1m for Corporation Park and neighbourhood improvements.

Now its deputy leader and growth boss Cllr Quesir Mahmood has announced plans to use some of that funding to complete repair works to the MUGA in Philips Road and renovate the one in Troy Street.

He said: “We know just how popular these multi-use games areas are and how valued they are by the community.

“We also know just desperate the repairs and renovations are too.

“Sadly, with the huge budget pressures the council has faced due to austerity over the last decade, we’ve seen facilities like these decline against all our wishes.

“As a council we’re determined to do the very best we can for our residents and so have worked hard to help secure much-needed funding from elsewhere, including the Levelling Up Partnership.

“I’m proud to say we’ve secured more than £120m of new government investment for our borough in recent years.

“For some weeks now, we’ve been finalising with government our business plan for how the £20m will be spent, including the funding for Corporation Park and on the neighbourhood MUGA projects, and I’m looking forward to being able to announce more details about the difference it is going to help make soon.

“This really is fantastic news.”

At the heart of the £20.3m Levelling Up Partnership plan is £8m to renovate King George’s Hall – the jewel in the crown of Blackburn’s £50m Cultural Quarter.

Councillor Mahmood said: “While we have the bigger projects which we know will drive transformational change, we’re just as focused on creating strong communities.

“As such we’re focused on the issues that residents tell us are important to them – with parks and playgrounds always high on the agenda.

“As well as the £750,000 investment for Corporation Park, we recently unveiled the new playgrounds at Witton Park funded by contributions from new homes.

“And, we’ve committed £200,000 to upgrading two playgrounds in Darwen – at Whitehall Park and Bold Venture."