National Lottery investment totalling £2.5m is to be distributed among more than 60 playing fields across England as part of Sport England's Protecting Playing Fields legacy fund.

It is the second round of the fund and will see grants worth between £20,000 and £50,000 go towards supporting a wide range of projects involving playing fields throughout the country.

Among the recipients is a project to bring fields in Hull back into use after they were damaged by flooding five years ago. A £30,700 grant will help a local community group to create new cricket and football facilities.

Meanwhile, a London football club - CB Hounslow - has secured £50,000. The club is now create new pitches on a disused site at Green Lane, which was offered by the local authority after the club's lease on its Norwood Green base was ended.

Another London project also received a £50,000 grant, with Community Teachsport in Lewisham receiving a rent-free lease to operate the Abbotshall Road Playing Fields.

The funding from Sport England will be used to carry out improvements to sports surfaces at the venue, as well as to improve the site's buildings for use by the community.

All 61 playing fields benefiting from the latest funding are to be protected from development for at least 25 years. More than 30 will become Queen Elizabeth II Fields.

Sport England chair Richard Lewis said: "These investments will transform the local pitches where many young people have their first experience of sport."

Details: www.sportengland.org