Provision for young people in Blackburn with Darwen is set to be transformed with an £8 million investment including expanding the youth zone centres in both of the borough's major towns.

The Whitehall cash will also see new hubs for youngsters developed in in Shadsworth and Audley and Queen's Park.

The money has been secured through the government’s Youth Investment Fund.

It will pay for four major projects:

▪ £3.3m to double the size of Darwen Youth Centre in Knott Street by revamping the existing building with an extra storey to provide a new wellbeing area, creative workshop space, recording and DJ studio, gaming zone and multi-use spaces while the outdoor sports facilities will also be upgraded

▪ £2.9m to provide Blackburn Youth Zone with a brand new employment and skills hub in the unused neighbouring Fuse Box building

▪ £1m to transform Audley and Queen’s Park Children’s Centre into a seven days-a-week youth hub offering a specialist mental health, employability and rehabilitation support

▪ £800,000 to revamp the Shadsworth Hub opposite the local park into a new youth centre offering refurbished indoor and outdoor spaces

Cllr Phil Riley, leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “This is a brilliant outcome for our youngsters in the borough and comes on the back of an incredible amount of hard work by the council and our partners.

“This funding will see our youth facilities transformed - supporting our mission to ensure every child and young person has opportunities to fulfil their potential."

Conservative group leader Cllr John Slater said: "This is obviously very welcome.

"It will be huge boost for the borough's young people.

"Once again the Conservative government has put investment worth millions of pounds into Blackburn with Darwen."

Blackburn and Darwen Youth Zone chief executive Hannah Allen said: “We are delighted to finally be refurbishing the Fuse Box; located towards the rear of Blackburn Youth Zone.

"Currently it’s an unused space covering approximately 3,500 square metres.

“Initially opened in 1818 as Blackburn's first electricity power station, this area will become our Employment Skills Hub.

“In this dedicated space, we can empower young people and industry to come together to address identified skills gaps.

“The Fuse Box is an important heritage project for the town giving young people the space and opportunity to find their spark.”

Blackburn and Darwen Youth Zone currently has more than 4,000 members and offers more than 60 hours of provision.

The new Shadsworth youth hub is part of the Together Housing Group's £20m makeover of the estate.

Newground Together director Nic McGrath said: “We’re excited to start working with young people in Shadsworth to create a space they can call their own and develop a range of positive activities and opportunities.”

The new Audley and Queens Park youth centre will be managed by the local IMO (Inspire, Motivate, Overcome) charity and avoid the area's young people having to walk for 40 minutes to the nearest alternative.

It will offer arts and crafts; gaming; sports development such as learning about safety; cross-community initiatives; residential workshops; international exchanges; and health and wellbeing awareness including around sexual health, healthy eating and cookery.

It will cater for more than 360 young people with more than 20 dedicated sessions a week.

Borough children's services boss Cllr Julie Gunn said: “Currently, there’s very little youth provision in the Audley and Queens Park area and we desperately wanted to change that. Now, we can create a dedicated youth centre which we know will make a massive difference.”

The founder of the IMO charity Mohammed Tayyab Sidat said: “We have known for some time that this location would be best for young people, particularly as it’s in the heart of the community.

“We are very excited that this has now become a reality.

“The youth hub will provide a range of age appropriate personal development programmes as well drop-in provision from Mondays to Sundays.”