MILLIONS of pounds are to be poured into a town which topped a national league table for deprived estates.

Three Middlesbrough neighbourhoods - Thorntree, Pallister Park and St Hilda's - featured in the top five of a chart table of Britain's most run down areas, earlier this year.

Almost £10.5m is to be spent on regeneration projects over the next three years, it is to be announced.

The money is being channelled to Middlesbrough through the Government's Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, (NFR), which is designed to narrow the gap between the most deprived areas and the rest of the country.

Fast mobile response teams will be set up to deal with community safety and environmental issues. There will be small grants for small scale facelifts, local people will be encouraged to manage improvement schemes, and there will be more alley gating and security improvements.

Funds will be made available to help unemployed people find work, and there will be package of measures to raise educational achievement.

These will include the creation of two family learning centres, extra staff for low-achieving primary schools and for pupils at risk of exclusion, initiatives to improve the performance of children from ethnic groups, and additional funds for youngsters with support needs.

One of the conditions of the NRF grant is that the public and private sectors cooperate closely to ensure that planned improvements complement work already being undertaken to improve an area's prosperity.

The town's current local partnership - Middlesbrough Direct - is being overhauled and expanded to meet the new requirements.

Council leader Councillor Ken Walker said: "The Neighbourhood Renewal Fund is a great opportunity for Middlesbrough.

"Millions are being made available to help us achieve our goal of regenerating run-down neighbourhoods, but we can't work in a vacuum, and we recognise the importance of working with our partners in Middlesbrough Direct and throughout the town to make things happen and ensure the money is directed where it's needed the most."

He said the most deprived areas would be the first to benefit from the NRF, following tomorrow's meeting of the council's cabinet.

l Last year, housing association Bradford and Northern pulled down 46 new houses, built only ten years ago, in St Hilda's, because no one wanted to live there