SCHOOLS in Worcestershire are being offered the chance to benefit from £3 million to improve playgrounds.

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group has announced that it will invest the money in transforming another 450 primary school playgrounds into attractive and stimulating places where children can learn and play safely.

Since the launch of RBS Supergrounds in 2004, the programme has improved 450 school playgrounds across the UK and benefited more than 118,000 children.

In addition to assisting with children's educational and emotional development, improved school grounds have been shown to increase children's overall attitude to learning, improve behaviour, social interaction and self-esteem as well as significantly reducing bullying.

Britain's number one tennis player Andy Murray, who is supporting the scheme, said: "I'm really excited to be involved with the supergrounds programme.

"I was always encouraged to be active as a child and having a fun place to play outdoors can make all the difference.

"School playgrounds offer safe outdoor spaces for children and are the one space they all have access to. The funding provided by the Supergrounds programme, which is delivered by Learning through Landscapes, is instrumental in encouraging schools to think of ways to make their playgrounds better places to play and learn outside."