A part of Bradford will get a £5 million facelift over the next two years as part of plans to regenerate the Bradford-Leeds corridor.

Residents in Laisterdyke have met Bradford Council officers and regeneration boss Councillor Adrian Naylor to hear about plans to spruce up their homes.

Work will include roofing, repairing chimneys, replacing gutters, stone cleaning, pointing and rebuilding boundary walls.

Cash will also be spent improving the environment and routes to work. Coun Naylor, who is executive member for regeneration, said: “These improvement works will be marvellous for residents and will greatly enhance the Bradford to Leeds corridor, one of the major gateways to our district.”

Improvement works have already been carried out at Hillside and Rushton Road and the next phase will take place on Evelyn Avenue.

Ward councillor Ghazanfer Shafiq said: “It is very pleasing for the residents who are likely to receive funding to improve their properties, but I am a bit concerned that the £5m is not enough – we need a lot more than that to sort out the whole area.

“It’s a good start but I don’t want it to stop here.

“If they are going to tackle the decline in the housing, they need to do more environmental work, sort out the streets and roads, and generally improve the quality.

“There is still scaffolding and so on but you can see the improvement already,” he said.

Owners and landlords attended a meeting at the Thornbury Centre to register their details and contact numbers.

Seventy-five per cent of property owners in a particular area need to consent for the facelift scheme to go ahead.

Owner-occupiers who are eligible might also qualify for a loan to correct any internal defects.

The work will be carried out by Connaught Partnerships. Any-one needing an information pack should contact Private Sector Housing on (01274) 434520.