More than 200 new jobs will be created in Dudley as part of a £10million transformation of the Castle Hill district, it was revealed today.

The announcement comes after the European Regional Development Fund agreed to plough £4.5million into the project, with the rest coming from Dudley Council, Dudley Zoo and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The jobs will be generated by the link-up of the zoo, the Black Country Living Museum and Dudley Canal Trust and construction work on the five-year scheme.

Regeneration boss Councillor Angus Adams said the work would start “as soon as possible” on the project, with the first ground set to be broken in four to six weeks’ time.

“This project will hopefully increase visitor numbers from 600,000 a year to one million people a year, and create around 200 new jobs,” he said. “We were absolutely delighted with the news of the European money and can’t wait to get started.”

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