SHOPPING guru Mary Portas is to visit Nelson for the first time next week to see where her £100,000 has been spent.

Council bosses have teamed up with Nelson and Colne College students to offer a new dimenson to the likes of Scotland Road, Manchester Road and Leeds Road.

An arts and vintage market was one of the centrepiece events last October and a flashmob descended on the Lancashire Day celebrations in November.

Further schemes like a student loyalty card and 20-foot high designs on the side of Pendle Rise shopping centre are also being trialled.

nd she’ll be sharing her expertise.

The TV presenter said: “We must focus efforts on creating lively and social places, especially for young people, to breathe new life into Nelson.

“This is Nelson’s big chance. It's about creating a place that people want to feel part of – a sense of community so that people feel proud to say they are from Nelson.”

Mary will chair a roundtable meeting with some of the leading lights of Nelson’s Portas Pilot Town Team after she arrives on Tuesday.

Coun Paul White, the borough’s regeneration lead, said: “She’ll be hearing first hand how we’re taking action to breathe new life into Nelson, using the Portas funding we won last year.”

One of the town team’s aims has been to bring more young people into the town centre, creating a corridor from the college to the interchange.

Borough leaders also recently unveiled a newly-revamped ‘high street’ crowned by ‘The Shuttle’ a massive public artwork linked to Nelson’s weaving past.

Nicholas Emery, who is on the town team and involved with the town centre forum, said: “It’s about creating a place that people want to feel part of – a sense of community so that people feel proud to say they are from Nelson.”

And Coun Nadeem Younis, chairman of Nelson area committee, added: “Nelson is a town on the up. Getting help and advice from TV celebrities like Mary Portas and Azhar Siddique from The Apprentice will make a difference.”`