BLACKPOOL'S famous trams are to be updated and extended across the Fylde Coast in a £230 million overhaul.

Proposed plans to modernise the present tramway, running from Blackpool to Fleetwood, include:

1. Developing a rapid transit link to St Annes and Lytham

2. A new on-street route to Blackpool North Railway Station

3. A possible new link between Blackpool and Fleetwood via Poulton and Thornton

4. Upgrading the existing tramway to modern light rail standards

But Blackpool's traditional tramcars -- a unique feature of the tramway -- will stay in operation alongside the new vehicles, to retain the character of the town's famous tram system.

Blackpool Borough Council and Lancashire County Council, who jointly commissioned the study into the future of the trams, hope that the trams will be operational by 2010.