BLACKPOOL is gambling on £15m of European funding to help to turn the resort into a world-class tourist destination.

A 200-page bid -- entitled Sea Change in Blackpool -- has been submitted by Blackpool Challenge Partnership, and the town could find out within days whether it has been successful.

Blackpool is just one of 24 local authorities to bid for strategic regional investment but only 15 will be successful in securing a slice of the £175m available for economic development zones.

Challenge Partnership manager Alan Cavill said the bid was a once and for all opportunity.

"This is it," he said. "We won't get the chance to bid again. There is no round two or three.

"An enormous amount of hard work and effort has gone into this submission and we are waiting with bated breath to find out if we have been successful.

"It will be a fantastic boost for Blackpool if we have, and provide a terrific kick-start to the New Year and the exciting plans to regenerate the town."

Tourism Tsar Peter Moore OBE -- who assisted in the application -- said that after decades of lethargy, urgent action is needed in Blackpool.

"Blackpool has seen the need to change and has achieved major cohesion in its approach to reshaping the destiny of its resort.

"With its new and exciting vision, and its history and heritage as a successful tourism and entertainment venue, Blackpool is ideally suited to accommodate such major renaissance.

"This would raise the quality of life of all who visit, work and live in the resort of Blackpool."