STOURBRIDGE MP Suzanne Webb has promised to work her socks off to help secure a slice of £20million funding to help improve Lye’s fortunes.

The MP has been working with Dudley Council which has been drawing up a bid for cash from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund to improve transport and road safety and tackle pollution in Lye.

Under the proposals, Lye Bypass is to be made two-way to reduce the amount of traffic down the High Street while improving air quality and allowing increased footways and cycle routes.

Better pedestrian connections from the train station to the High Street are also part of the plan.

Tory MP Suzanne said: “I am really pleased with these ambitious plans which will potentially make a huge difference to Lye residents’ lives.

“Regenerating Lye cannot be done overnight and there will be more work to do to make sure it’s a place people want to live, work and visit.

“This bid is vital to addressing Lye’s issues, and we will continue to build on these plans in the future to reinvigorate the area.”

The MP said she consulted widely in Lye to find out what residents and traders want to see happen and she said 84 per cent of respondents rated investment in local roads as important or very important.

She congratulated Dudley Council on its work on the bid and said: “I am going to work my socks off in Westminster alongside the council and other organisations to make it a reality with a successful bid to the Levelling Up Fund.”

She added: “We need to work together now to make the bid is the best it can be.”

Due to be submitted in July, the bid also includes a plan to bring forward four brownfield sites for new homes plus new car park provision.

A decision is expected in the autumn.