The cash aims to improve the local services and create new amenities

The money will be used to demolish hundreds of houses in the Derker and Werneth areas to make way for new homes and community amenities.

Those affected by the proposals have all been sent packs with information about the changes and a helpline they can call for advice on compensation.

In 2001, Oldham saw the worst race riots in the UK in a decade.

The proposals to transform the two neighbourhoods are part of a �54m bid for government money to improve communities in Oldham and Rochdale.

The plans were put together in consultation with local people and submitted to the government last December.

The government will announce if the bid is successful later this month.

Alastair Graham, head of the Oldham and Rochdale Housing Market Renewal Project, which is behind the proposals, said they would make changes that "will last a generation".

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring about major change that has not been possible in the past," he said.

"We have worked with local people to develop the proposals and we are committed to continuing to work with them to turn our plans into action."