A rundown corridor to Bradford city centre is set to be transformed after the green light was given to a £200,000 cash injection for regeneration.

The money will be spent on sprucing up Manningham Lane as part of a wider project to boost the area.

The windfall has been approved by the Government's regeneration agency Yorkshire Forward and will be handed over to the Manningham Means Business project, a consortium of residents, traders and businessmen set up 15 months ago to change the face of the area.

Now their dream is about to become a reality and, within weeks, work could begin on planting trees, putting in bins and erecting lighting on buildings along the road. The improvements will initially take place on the stretch of Manningham Lane between Hamm Strasse and the gates at the Bradford end of Lister Park.

But the scheme will be extended to other parts of Manningham and will become part of a regeneration master plan being piloted by the Manningham and Girlington Single Regeneration Budget.

Both will tie in with the planned development of the city centre by the Urban Regeneration Company.

Manningham Means Business chairman David Cubitt said Manningham Lane was the catalyst.

"This will give the lane a facelift which we regard as a kick-start for Manningham in general," he said.

"Manningham Lane is regarded as a major corridor to the city centre. We want our lane, and the roads off it, to look like places where people want to live, work and visit."

He said there had been a slow exodus of businesses moving out of Manningham and his own firm, pensions and asset management company Beaumont Robinson, would have left if the area were not turned around.

"The whole community is coming together on this. It is uniting the community and is having a beneficial effect, which is what is needed," he said.

Another arm of the regeneration will see increased security through CCTV cameras. A special camera is to be put up in Lister Park which will be able to link up with other cameras in Manningham Lane and more are likely to be put in place over the next six months.

Mr Cubitt said: "We need to make people feel safer. They need to know Lister Park is covered. It's Bradford's best kept secret and we need to get the message across."