A MULTI-MILLION pound bid for Lottery cash to transform a run-down Liverpool park is in the pipeline.

Liverpool council intends to lobby for about £4.5m to breathe new life into Newsham Park, in Tuebrook.

The bid should be submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund in September after officials were advised they risked losing out to bids from the 2012 Olympics if they waited any longer.

The 140-year-old park, which is surrounded by large Victorian villas, has deteriorated in recent years and community leaders have long campaigned for a facelift.

Cllr Louise Baldock, who represents Ken- sington and Fairfield, said: "Newsham Park has been neglected and needs to be brought back to its former grandness.

"Many people who live around it have terraced houses without a garden – for them, the park is their garden.

"Now we have to concentrate on putting in the best possible bid and keeping everything crossed that we win."

The council has drawn up detailed proposals for how it intends to revitalise the ailing green space.

The bandstand will be refurbished, while public artwork and a water feature will be erected within the 121- acre park. Entrances will get a facelift and signs will be will be replaced, a play area opened, and a fitness trail and "pensioner’s playground" for the elderly created.

Thousands of shrubs and trees will be planted and improvements to the lake could be made to benefit a keen community of anglers.

Money will be spent on new lighting to combat anti-social behaviour and stop gangs gathering in dark corners of the park.