Darwen bids for £25m from government's Town Deal fund

A bid for £25m to help revamp a town in Lancashire has been submitted.

The plans to transform Darwen include the restoration of the town's Victorian market and funds to complete housing sites which have stalled.

Darwen is just one of the towns bidding for a share of the government's £3.6bn Town Deal fund to support regeneration projects and create jobs.

Wayne Wild, chairman of Darwen Town Deal Board, described the funding as "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity".

The bid incorporates plans to restore the market, creating a new food hall and "makers market" and funding for Darwen Library and Library Theatre.

It also includes improvements to pathways through the town's parks and woods up on to the moors and investment in ultrafast broadband.

Councillor Phil Riley, from Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, said: "We have also worked to develop a plan that will have true impact - a plan that will restore a sense of optimism for residents who have real pride in their hometown."

The town's Conservative MP Jake Berry said there has been "a collective feeling that our town was being left behind, overlooked for investment in favour of bigger, neighbouring towns and cities".

The Darwen Town Deal Investment Plan hopes to secure another £75m of private sector and council investment to boost an improvement blueprint for the next 10 years, the Local Democracy Reporting Service has said.

The board has already secured an initial £750,000 of Town Deal funding to restore the town's iconic Jubilee Tower and create a new sports village.

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