BUSINESSES in a town centre are to be give a ‘once in a lifetime’ grant boost as work on the new town square progresses.

Council bosses said work on Accrington’s new £2million square, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, is progressing well ready for the official opening in November.

This comes after the town square area was subject to flooding last week, but Hyndburn Council said the issue had now been resolved and the road gullies had been cleared.

Shops around the town square area will also be offered the chance to apply for grants to help improve their premises.

Cabinet member for the town centre Cllr Clare Cleary said: “Even though it’s not quite finished yet, the work has already transformed the area allowing the magnificent listed buildings to, once again, take centre stage and create a beautiful civic space.

"When the work is finished, the square will be cleaned ready to host a range of activities and events over the coming months.

“More good news is that the Heritage Lottery Fund have agreed to increase the grant rate we can offer to shops in the project area to 90 per cent.

“The council’s townscape heritage officer is in contact with those shops eligible to apply for a grant and we hope shop owners will take full advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity and that we will see improvements take place over the next few months.”

An application has also been submitted to Lancashire County Council to make traffic regulation orders for the town square to reduce traffic as the work continues.

The order will prohibit vehicular access to the square except for loading and unloading between 4pm and10am, or driving to the service yard at any time to make deliveries to businesses with permission to use the service yard.

Council leader Cllr Miles Parkinson was positive about the work going on and encouraged shop owners to make the most of the grants available to them.

He said: “It’s the next piece in the jigsaw in the town.“This is the ideal opportunity for businesses to apply for the grant to improve their businesses, it means they’ll only have to pay £5,000 for the property renovations."

“It’s to help shop keepers, and it’s on a first come first serve basis.”