Sustainable transport projects in Watford, St Albans and Dacorum are to receive a grant of almost £10 million from the Government.

The money comes after a bid made by Hertfordshire County Council last December to the Department for Transport’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) was approved.

The money is intended to be used to improve transport links and encourage more environmentally friendly methods of travel to key towns.

The £9.7 million plus £3.3 million matched contributions from the county council and other partners will be put towards the Big Hearts Big Ideas project with spending spread out between now and March 2015.

In Dacorum, the money will be used for specific projects around Maylands Business Park in Hemel Hempstead and for improvements to bus and transport infrastructure across the borough.

Councillor Terry Douris, Dacorum Borough Council’s portfolio holder for planning and regeneration, said: "It’s fantastic news that this funding has been awarded to us. With this investment , we can make the borough a greener place as well as helping to support businesses by strengthening the transport links which their staff need to get to work."