A MASSIVE facelift of one of Redditch's most significant archaeological and ecological sites has received the backing of national historic environmental group English Heritage.

The launch of the Moons Moat project is pencilled in for October, just a year after English Heritage inspected the ancient site. The group is due to grant formal consent at the end of the month.

Redditch Council, in partnership with the Church Hill Alliance, is applying for funding from the Local Heritage Initiative, an organisation that helps local groups investigate and care for their local landscape, traditions and culture.

If funding is secured, works to the ancient site, including removing silt, maintaining pathways and tree maintenance, are hoped to be completed by January.

In a report circulated at a recent Church Hill Neighbourhood Group Meeting, the council's green space development officer, Karl Stokes, said nearby schools and residents would be drafted in to look after the site on a community ownership basis.

The site was the subject of various archaeological excavations in the 1960s and 70s and both the marginal wetland and woodland fringes support a diverse range of species.

Moons Moat was first included in the secretary of state's Schedule of Ancient Monuments in 1968.