A NEW £840 million fund to overhaul transport across the country has been announced - and Southampton is line for a share.

The city is one those shortlisted for the new transport transformation fund, announced today by Prime Minister Theresa May.

The city will now battle it out with cities such as Leicester, Plymouth, and Sheffield for the funding.

Rival south coast city Portsmouth is also in the running.

The money has been sidelined for vital transport schemes such as improving cycle routes or upgrading connections between ports and the city centres.

And £60 million of the total will be sidelined in the next year to fast-track some transport upgrades.

Announcing the scheme, named the Transforming Cities Fund, Prime Minister Theresa May said: “The South East is home to 8.9 million people, with nearly 195,000 more small businesses since 2010 – all helping to create a Britain that is fit for the future.

"As part of our modern Industrial Strategy, improvements to vital infrastructure will help spread growth beyond London and empower local businesses to create more, better-paying jobs.

"It is great news that the Portsmouth and South East Hampshire city region and Southampton have been shortlisted for the Transforming Cities Fund.

"The £840 million fund will support upgrades for better, safer, faster transport links, opening up more opportunities to help people get on in life and be rewarded for their hard work.”

The local authorities will now each receive £50,000 in government funding and bespoke support to develop their proposals and make their strongest cases for investment.

Over the next four years, the new allocation of funding from the Transforming Cities Fund will be used to improve links between city centres and suburbs in further city regions across England, increasing access to jobs and helping ensure that businesses have the infrastructure they need to thrive.

The fund has already delivered major improvements for people across England including the Brierley Hill tram lines in the West Midlands and the Beeline Cycle Network in Greater Manchester - set to be the largest network of its kind in the UK.

The announcement of the new funding pot follows the approval of a number of transport schemes.

These include a £350 million to improve the key South Coast A27 Corridor, including a new bypass of Arundel, and a £186 million upgrade of the M3 to begin in 2019.

The ten shortlisted city regions are:

• Derby & Nottingham

• Leicester

• North East Combined Authority

• Norwich

• Plymouth

• Portsmouth & South East Hampshire

• Southampton

• Sheffield City Region Combined Authority

• Stoke-on-Trent

• West Yorkshire Combined Authority

Six Combined Mayoral Authorities have already been allocated funding from the Transforming Cities Fund at the Autumn Budget 2017.

These are:

• West Midlands - £250 million

• Greater Manchester - £243 million

• Liverpool - £134 million

• West of England - £80 million

• Cambridge and Peterborough - £74 million

• Tees Valley - £59 million