An open letter in the Telegraph & Argus urging support of Bradford’s Park at the Heart bid was used in a powerful presentation to Big Lottery Fund judges.

On the first and second pages of the paper, editor Perry Austin-Clarke urged the 12-strong judging panel to give Bradford a £24.5m grant to make the stunning scheme a reality – stressing the impact it would have on the city’s regeneration.

Copies of the T&A were hand-delivered to the Big Lottery Fund headquarters, off Fleet Street, hours before Park at the Heart project bosses arrived to give a crucial final presentation to the judges outlining why the scheme deserved Lottery funding.

Afterwards city council chief Tony Reeves said the judges had been highly impressed by the paper’s support for the bid, which had also been backed by 31,000 members of the Bradford public.

He said: “The judges were genuinely delighted when they saw the article. It really hammered home the point of how much ownership there is of this scheme.

“What the T&A did was a masterstroke. We felt the presentation went very well but we don’t know the result yet.

“We will be on tenterhooks until the announcement is made. The judges seemed warmly disposed to the project.”

The judging panel quizzed the Bradford team on a range of issues surrounding the scheme. They asked about community safety, maintenance, design and impact on the city’s regeneration.

He added: “I think we have done all we can and feel very satisfied that we have presented the project with real passion. We did not get any sign that any of the judges were negative towards the scheme.”

Those behind Park at the Heart – which is intended to be world-class ten-acre city centre park complete with mirror pool with an estimated total build cost of £29.9m – were the first of the eight short-listed teams from around the country to give their final presentation in a bid to get a share of the £90m pot.