The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) will plough £7.3m into improving the levels of specialist training within the UK's heritage sector.

The funding will deliver up to 1,000 paid training opportunities for people seeking a career in heritage and will include specialist skills ranging from horticulture to conservation and web design.

The funding will be delivered in two stages. The first will see £2.3m being invested immediately with current grantees and will form an extension to HLF's existing £7m Training Bursary Programme.

The funding will enable up to 150 additional training places to be created with current grantees. These places will provide accredited on-the-job training by skilled crafts people and environmental specialists.

The remaining £5m will be used to set up a new programme, called Skills for the Future, which will offer new work-based training in the fields of preservation, landscaping, horticulture and exhibition design. The scheme will be launched by the end of 2009.

Organisations will be able to apply for funding for a number of traineeships over a period of up to five years. The criteria and priorities are currently being developed but the emphasis will be on high-quality practical work-based training.

Dame Jenny Abramsky, HLF chair, said: "I believe passionately that heritage can play a significant part in economic recovery. We want to focus on offering people skills that will give them a future career and at the same time meet the needs of the sector."

"This immediate cash injection, followed by a wider commitment over the longer term, will ensure our heritage is protected for the future and represents a hugely exciting chance to attract people who might not usually consider a career within it."

According to figures from the National Heritage Training Group, more than 10,000 additional skilled craftspeople are needed to meet current shortages in the built heritage sector across the UK.