The Henley Report into the first the lottery says that it has contributed hundreds of millions to the built environment.

Cash from the national lottery has been a “catalyst for regeneration” according to the Henley Report into the first 10 years of Britain’s National Lottery. The report, which was commissioned by lottery operator Camelot , is due to be published on Thursday.

It said funding for schemes such as the Eden Project, as well as countless smaller grants for local and community projects, had been “a major catalyst" for hundreds of millions of pounds worth of regeneration investment, citing Newcastle-Gateshead and Manchester-Salford as prime examples.