TRADERS have cautiously welcomed a £500,000 scheme to revive the flagging Friargate Brow area of the city.

The cash grant will be spent on the road that links the University of Central Lancashire to the city centre.

The money comes jointly from the Single Regeneration Budget secured through AvenCentral and the European Regional Development Fund.

New benches, concrete paving, trees, kerbs and bollards are part of the strategy that it's hoped will attract new businesses to the area.

Alan Millington, from the council's planning department, said at a public meeting on Monday: "We want to arrest the decline in the area.

"What we hope to do is carry out a series of noticeable improvements with street furniture, new lighting and a walkway as well as improve the pedestrian crossings.

"This is not just a lick of paint; it is an important range of improvements. There are a number of areas in decline and this could create a snowball affect on the rest of the city centre."

Shopkeepers welcomed the investment but questioned whether it would solve the problem.

Pamela Booth, from Dancing Daughters, Friargate, said the idea didn't go far enough.

"It will be nice to have the pavements done but we need to get all the council departments working together because there will still be empty buildings and problems with car parking," she said

"Just because the area looks nice it doesn't mean shops will move into the empty premises and then we'll be back at square one."

Councillor Ken Cole, Town Centre ward representative, said: "It sounds quite encouraging. It's seen as the first phase in the regeneration of the area."