JUNIOR housing minister Sally Keeble will visit Teesside today to see how a multi-million pound Government grant will transform the town.

Hartlepool has been awarded £53.8m under the Government's New Deal for Communities initiative.

The money will be used to benefit West Central Hartlepool over the next ten years, and will affect more than 4,400 households.

It will be spent on improving health and housing, tackling unemployment, raising educational standards and cutting crime.

During her visit, the MP for Northampton North will meet residents at the Belle Vue Community Sports and Youth Centre, before going on a tour of the New Deal area.

Bryon Hanna, vice-chairman of the New Deal Residents Steering group, said: "We are delighted that the junior housing minister is visiting Hartlepool to see first-hand how New Deal money is going to breathe new life into areas of the town."

The New Deal area includes Hart Lane and Belle Vue, and also covers the area around the Middleton Grange Shopping Centre, the Longhill Industrial Estate, Oxford Road and Burn Valley Gardens.