ELVASTON Castle's historic gardens are to undergo much-needed repair work thanks to a £456,000 English Heritage grant.

But a condition of the cash is that the area of land is not sold for at least 15 years and that it remains open to the public.

Many of the listed buildings within the estate have fallen into a state of disrepair over recent years, and it is estimated that the repair work needed will cost £800,000.

Now owner Derbyshire County Council has won the English Heritage grant, which will cover 80% of the cost of the remedial work.

There have been fears public access to the estate could be restricted after the council chose developer Highgate Sanctuary to take over the lease of the castle and part of the grounds, which are due to become a hotel and golf course.

But council chief executive Nick Hodgson denied public access would be affected.

He said: "We've said all along the grounds will remain open to the public and this funding is a very good indication of our commitment to maintaining public access to the park.

"We wouldn't be using our money or English Heritage's money if we were thinking about selling off the land.

"The running costs for the estate are in the region of £500,000 a year and this is another example of why we need to identify a viable use for the castle to generate some income to put back into the estate."

The money from English Heritage will be given in two instalments, with the first phase of repair work expected to begin this summer.

A study carried out by English Heritage architect Nick Reading in February identified the areas needing attention.

These include the Moorish Temple, which was designed by William Barron in 1850, the Golden Gates, which are rumoured to originate from the palace of Versailles, and Springthorpe Cottage.

The south garden walls, ha-ha wall, nursery garden wall, eastern gatehouse roof, coach house, pump house and part of the castle roof will also be repaired.

Derbyshire County Council will contribute about £105,600 from its 2009/10 planned maintenance budget for Elvaston.

Funding for the second stage of the work will be confirmed by English Heritage by March and is expected to be in the region of £160,000, with the council contributing £41,600.

The Friends of Elvaston Castle group has been campaigning to keep the castle and park open to the public.

A spokesman said: "Whilst any repairs to the Elvaston Estate are welcomed, we believe using public money for restoration which then benefits the developer is deplorable and a public betrayal by the county council."