A £5.5m investment has been secured by Falkirk Council to help transform the town centre over the next five years.

The local authority was awarded a £2m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) towards a Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI) in the town centre.

This grant is supported by a previously awarded fund of £1.6m from Historic Scotland as part of the Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS).

The THI aims to regenerate Falkirk town centre by repairing, restoring and preserving the area's heritage features and historic buildings, with the hope of attracting more visitors, residents, services and retailers to the area.

Under the new funds, shop owners in the town will be given an opportunity to transform their shop fronts into a more traditional design, helping to improve the attractiveness of the high street and creating a high quality urban environment where people will want to spend their time and money. There will also be repairs and restoration work carried out to important historical buildings and structures in the area.

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Building owners with properties within the THI will be able to apply for grants to cover up to 85% of the eligible cost of bringing their properties into good repair.

Councillor Dennis Goldie, Spokesperson for Economic Development at Falkirk Council said: "This is fantastic news for Falkirk. It will give the town centre a well deserved boost and will in the longer term help to transform its fortunes by creating a shopping area where increasingly people want to spend their time and money."

Thomas Knowles of Historic Scotland added: "This is a great opportunity for Falkirk to rediscover its historic roots and celebrate its past by restoring and preserving the area's unique heritage features and historic buildings.

"By doing so Falkirk Town Centre will be transformed; we know that people are attracted to and enjoy living, working and visiting historic, locally distinctive and well kept places."

(JP/CD)