A bid for £500,000 of Lottery money holds the key to getting more people exercising in Blackbird Leys.

Oxford City Council will discover next month whether an application for Sport England money to help redevelop the estate's leisure centre has been successful.

If the money is secured the council will match that amount and set about refurbishing and extending the leisure centre on Pegasus Road to accommodate new gym equipment and fitness classes.

Blackbird Leys is one of the most unhealthy estates in Oxfordshire, with diabetes and heart disease two of the most common ailments.

GPs, who already prescribe exercise classes alongside conventional medicine, agree a renovated sports centre would encourage more patients to undertake regular exercise.

Dr Matthew Williamson, a GP at Blackbird Leys Health Centre, said: "There are very few people who could not do with eating less and taking more exercise.

"Exercise prescription is a good thing. Anybody who has got high blood pressure may be able to remove the need for medication by taking exercise, reducing their fat and salt levels and not smoking.

"But a lot of people are not willing or able to do it."

Exercise prescription works in the same way as a regular prescription and allows the patient free access to a range of exercise regimes -- from yoga to sessions on a treadmill -- for six months.

Plans for a refurbished leisure centre include separate sport and community buildings, revamping vandalised outdoor sports pitches, and a new multi-activity community centre, including a dance studio and performance area.

Doctors are also planning to issue patients with details of different city walking routes.

Blackbird Leys ranks among the 10 per cent most deprived council wards in the country and has the highest number of health benefit claimants in the city.