EFFORTS to revive an historic jewel in Worcester's sporting crown have been confirmed - with the old Cinderella sports ground to undergo a £365,000 makeover.

Your Worcester News can reveal how crucial negotiations over revamping the St John’s site have now been agreed, paving the way for the long-awaited project to start.

Back in September 2013 Worcester City Council granted planning permission for a renovation of the dilapidated facility to bring it back into use.

Since then the council has been talks with its development partner, the Heart of Worcestershire College, about the finances which are crucial to making the deal possible.

A funding package totalling £365,000 has now been drawn up for it including a successful £50,000 funding bid to Sport England, £65,000 from the council, and the rest from either college coffers or Section 106 cash via private developers.

The council has now officially exercised its legal right to take the land from Arndale Property under a 25-year lease, allowing the transformation to begin over the coming months.

The locally listed pavilion, which has not been used for 10 years after it was declared unsafe, will be renovated while a one-storey extension will be constructed at the back for changing and shower facilities.

It would be used by college students as well as a possible venue for St John’s Colts youth football club, using new pitches, and Worcester Dominies and Guild Cricket Club, allowing the wider community to benefit.

The college has already said it intends the facility, off Bransford Road, to become a "leading sports venue" in Worcester.

Bosses at the council say securing the project, which was announced to politicians this week, has come as a major boost.

Councillor David Wilkinson, cabinet member for safer and stronger communities, said: "It's been a lot of work to get all the different parts of the jigsaw together but we're finally in a position where we can now go forward.

"We've got the funding together and are taking up the option on the lease, so it's very positive indeed."

Councillor Marc Bayliss, the deputy leader, who also represents the area where the pavilion is in the Bedwardine council ward, called it "brilliant" news.

"It's really good, the people of Bedwardine and St John's will be delighted with this," he said.

The next few months will be spent working towards a date for work to start, with a view to getting it back into operation around April 2016 in time for next year's cricket season.

The site dates back to the 1870s when it was a former home of Worcestershire County Cricket Club.

The name Cinderella Ground originated from the workers at the old Willis’s Cinderella Shoe Factory, who used the facilities in the early 1900s.

It’s also the site of a number of historic moments in cricket history, such as WG Grace playing for Worcestershire in 1868, as well as playing host to Diana Dors when she opened a Kay’s fete in 1981.