MORE than £22.5m is being ploughed into communities in the North-East to turn around decades of deprivation.

The money from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) is part of a huge £175m Government package aimed at helping to revitalise the most deprived areas of the country.

Seven councils in the region will benefit from the hand-out: Wear Valley, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Derwentside, Easington, South Tyneside and Wansbeck.

The latest allocation for 2004 to 2006 comes after an initial £800m distribution was announced for the communities in April.

Middlesbrough will get a further £5.22m over the next two years, which will be spent on a range of projects such as street wardens and litter enforcement patrols.

Mayor Ray Mallon said: "We're using NRF money to create cleaner, safer streets in Middlesbrough and improve the quality of life in neighbourhoods across the town.

"For example, a recent survey of residents in North Ormesby, where we have introduced a an NRF-funded rapid response team showed that 70 per cent of residents had noticed a big improvement in the area because of their work.

"We will continue to invest in services which make an impact on the streetscene and help restore pride in neighbourhoods and welcome this vote of confidence in what we're doing."

Easington has been awarded an extra £4.41m, Hartlepool's share is £3.12m, unemployment blackspot Wear Valley will get £1.7m and Derwentside has been awarded £1.48m.

Wear Valley leader Olive Brown said: "We are obviously delighted. It will certainly help us out tremendously and enable us to get rid of some of the dreadful pockets of deprivation we have.

"We have been hit really badly by job losses so we will be looking to improve that situation."

Peter Scott, Hartlepool Borough Council's acting director of regeneration and planning, said: "The money will be spent helping to breathe new life into some of the most deprived areas of the town, on a range of projects including education, employment, housing, the environment and health."

Announcing the allocations yesterday, Minister for Regeneration Jeff Rooker said: "Already we are turning around years of neglect that have blighted our most deprived communities.

"Neighbourhoods are benefiting from work to improve people's quality of life, to create places where people want to live, not leave. "Importantly, we are succeeding through empowering people to drive forward the revitalisation of their communities. And the difference is clear to see, whether it's safer streets, more jobs or a cleaner environment."