A £3.6 MILLION green deal bonanza has been handed to Worcestershire - with about 750 homes due to get better insulation.

Worcestershire County Council is celebrating after being one of the country's big winners from a Government funding pot to keep energy bills down.

Last year the Department for Energy and Climate Change invited councils to bid for cash to launch their own insulation projects.

The fund is worth £88 million and large parts of the country have been handed nothing, with just 24 councils successful.

Bosses at County Hall say the fund will be treated as one-off money to improve "hard to treat" properties, such as older ones belonging to housing associations which have seen little investment in recent decades.

A major project is being prepared to identify where it can be spent and the council estimates 750 properties will benefit.

The cash is set to be farmed out to district councils so they can help administrate the spending.

Councillor Adrian Hardman, county council leader, said: "This is a very welcome £3.6 million from the 'Green Deal' fund and we will work closely with the district councils to get as many homes insulated as we possibly can."

Councillor Anthony Blagg, cabinet member for the environment, said: "We've been quite successful in getting such a large amount of money in what was a competitive process.

"Some of the other councils in the West Midlands weren't as successful and we are working with the districts to make the most of it."