Over 40 Scottish 'high streets' will benefit from a £20 million share of government cash to revitalise their town centres, Housing and Communities Minister Alex Neil announced today.

It is the second tranche of money awarded from the £60 million Town Centre Regeneration Fund, set up earlier this year to transform the fortunes of hard-pressed high streets.

320 jobs will be supported through the latest investment, which brings to nearly a thousand the total number of jobs supported through the fund.

Towns in every local authority in Scotland have now benefited from the multi-million pound fund will help create better town centre retail, business, community and leisure facilities.

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A range of projects have now been given the green light including open-air entertainment venues, soft play centres, wi-fi zones, town hall and theatre upgrades and facilities for weekend markets.

Housing and Communities Minister Alex Neil said: "This is another £20 million for Scotland's town centres, on top of the £40 million we announced in August.

"Towns across every region and local authority area in Scotland have now been supported through this fund.

"It's vital we support innovative public and private sector companies and community groups to move forward with ideas that will support local jobs, businesses and families.

"This will provide a boost to our nation's prosperity and is part of our wider economic recovery plan to ensure Scotland gets through the economic downturn in the strongest possible position."

(CD/BMcC)