Work to restore the formal gardens at Liverpool's International Garden Festival site will be able to start within the next couple of months

The City Council's Executive Board have given the go-ahead to developers Langtree to carry out the work which will see the gardens reopened in about a year's time

The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) have offered a £2.1m grant to Langtree for the restoration work and a separate contribution of £1.6m from the Northwest European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is also currently being considered for the scheme.

However, in order to accept the grant changes in a development agreement between the city council and the developers had to be agreed.  This included deferring a dowry, to cover maintenance costs, from Langtree for five years.

Councillor Warren Bradley, Lib Dem Council Leader, said: "We have been working hard with the developers to make sure these gardens are reopened to the public.

"They should be something the city is proud of and a real asset to the community.

"We want to make sure that, having secured public funding for the site, that no obstacles are put in the way of the restoration of the green spaces so we were happy to make the necessary amendments to our development agreement."

The areas which will be restored include the Chinese and Japanese gardens, lakes and associated watercourses and the woodland sculpture trails.

The Land Restoration Trust will be responsible for the management and maintenance of the park once the works are completed

It is anticipated that work will start in November and take about a year.