Ambitious plans to bring Metrolink to Stockport by the end of the decade have been announced by Andy Burnham.

The Greater Manchester Mayor hopes to see work begin on extending the line from East Didsbury to the town’s new transport interchange by 2025.

Mr Burnham also announced that Lord Bob Kerslake, former head of the civil service and chair of the UK2070 commission - would replace him as chairman of the Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) board , the vehicle driving regeneration in Stockport town centre.

Council and transport bosses will now develop an ‘outline business case’ for bringing Metrolink ‘into the heart’ of the town centre.

It comes after transport secretary Grant Shapps hinted cash could be made available to extend the Metrolink to Stockport during the general election campaign.

And Mr Burnham believes that Lord Kerslake’s leadership could prove invaluable in the bid to secure the required funding - put at between £500m and £1bn - from the government.

Addressing a town centre event, he said: “These are high ambitions but we believe the creation of the MDC - the first to be focussed on a town centre - is the vehicle to make this a reality.”

An MDC has powers that allow it to acquire, develop and dispose of land and property - and the Mayor believes these will allow chiefs to ‘accelerate regeneration of the town centre'.

He added: “We believe the development of the MDC could fast-track the building of Metrolink here by giving the extra powers needed to reduce the time spent developing the scheme, we believe that work could start by 2025.

“It’s a big challenge but we are throwing it down to the board to get on with the development of that work in partnership with the council and Greater Manchester. But we will never get a better opportunity than this.”

The Mayor added that the early completion of the Trafford Park line had sent a message to government it could have confidence in the city region to deliver- and deliver ahead of schedule.

“You can have that northern infrastructure people are talking about very quickly, we can do it properly, and we believe that the conditions are there now to bring the Metrolink to Stockport within the decade.

“And I look forward to see if we can develop a plan to do precisely that.”

The MDC is focused on creating the region’s ‘newest, greenest, coolest urban neighbourhood’ in what has been dubbed Stockport Town Centre West.

Mr Burnham says this bolsters the borough’s claim for Metrolink funding, as it links in with a number of government priorities - from building new homes on brownfield sites close to public transport to revitalising town centres.

And he believes there is nobody better than ‘stand-out-candidate’ Lord Kerslake to steer the ship - a man he describes as ‘one of the most heavyweight names in British public service’.

“This is lining up as strongly as you can possibly imagine , and I hope the government will see the strength of that,” said Mr Burnham.

Stockport council leader Elise Wilson - who has long called for the Metrolink to be extended - said she was ‘absolutely delighted’ with the announcement.

She said: “It’s going to be a huge opportunity to really place ourselves on the national and international map and really shows that our ambition for the MDC to become a blueprint to how you do regeneration in a town centre.”

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Coun Wilson, who hailed the appointment of Lord Kerslake as ‘a real coup’ - also stressed the importance of transport infrastructure to ‘genuinely unlock’ the regeneration of the MDC area.

In a statement, Lord Kerslake said these were ‘exciting times’ for Stockport and Greater Manchester - and he was delighted to be taking on his new role as chairman of the MDC.

He said: “I have been impressed with the scale of the ambition that Andy Burnham, Stockport council and Homes England have for the area and I am very encouraged by the development that has taken place in Stockport so far.

“Joining the MDC at this stage gives me the opportunity to use my expertise and experience to help shape the next phase of Stockport’s journey and deliver a truly exceptional regeneration initiative that will make Stockport an even more attractive place to live, work and play.”