A £2 million ‘repairs fund’ has been set up for Darwen’s historic town centre buildings.

Half the cash has been obtained from the Heritage Lottery fund, with the borough council matching the rest.

Blackburn with Darwen Council is so concerned about the state of buildings that it has set up the Darwen town centre Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI) and surveyed the commercial centre of the town, including Bridge Street, Bolton Road and Railway Road.

The council said the survey revealed that the old buildings were losing their original character and appearance through the removal of architectural detail and insensitive alterations.

Only a few traditional shop fronts remained.

The survey also showed nine buildings said to be in immediate need of improvement.

The buildings identified by the council are Darwen Town Hall, the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, the Central Conservative Club, tram shelters and memorial, Belgrave Chapel, Burton and Woolworths building, Albert Buildings, 47 Railway Road, 2 and 3 Foundry Street, and the St Peter’s area housing.

The council is tracing all building owners to notify them.

Other ‘generic’ properties – generallly smaller and for com-mercial use – are also invited to apply for grant aid towards eligible property works and improvements.

Adam Scott, the borough’s director of regeneration, said: “Safeguarding the heritage of Darwen is of vital importance.

“The grants allow for much needed improvements to be made to the historic buildings identified as being in a poor state of repair.

"This will, in turn, have a positive impact on the town as a whole.”

Gordon Holden from Darwen Civic Society said: “I’m very pleased that this money has been made available.

"Darwen has a lot of beautiful buildings compared to other towns, but we must make sure that they are usable and not just museums to the past.”

Funding is available for up to 60 per cent of the structural repairs needed including stonework, brickwork and roof repairs and professional fees.

Grants covering 90 per cent of the cost is available for restoration of architectural detail, for example original features such as windows, doors, chimneys and mouldings.

For repair and restoration of traditional shop fronts, there is a 50 per cent grant for bringing vacant floor space back into use.