The Heritage Lottery Fund has invested in 260 parks

South Marine Park, South Shields, will receive almost �4m, Castle Gardens, Lisburn, Northern Ireland �2.2m, and Towneley Park, Burnley about �2m.

Lydiard Park in Swindon will get �3m and Wollaton Hall and Park in Nottingham �4.5m.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has invested over �400m in public parks, which attract 1.8 billion visits a year.

Fund director Carole Souter said: "We know that people are passionate about their parks and that they're a really popular use of lottery investment.

Former glory

"Being able to restore these five historic parks to their former glory is absolutely fantastic and will make a difference to the lives of so many people."

In the past decade, the fund has invested in 260 historic parks and green spaces.

It said its research suggested 86% of parents said their children would rather go to the park than watch TV when the weather is good.

Almost a third of people living in towns and cities visited parks at least once a week, it said.

Baroness Andrews, minister at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, said: "We have a unique tradition of municipal parks and gardens in this country, which provide so much value to the places where we live.

"That's why the government has focused over the last five years on reversing the historic decline of green spaces."