EAST Lancashire has been handed £260,000 by the Government to spruce up empty shops in town centres.

Five areas will get £52,632 each to help cope during the recession.

Ministers said the money must be used “creatively” by Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn, Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale councils to put vacant units to use.

The shops could be turned into community meeting places, learning centres or even exhibition spaces for local artists, the Government said.

Welcoming the money, Burnley MP Kitty Ussher said: “Empty shops can have a devastating impact on town centres.

“Many of us remember the ghost towns created by the recessions of the 1980s and 1990s when towns like Burnley were left to die.

“That will not happen this time.

“Just £1,000 can transform a boarded-up shop from an eyesore driving people away into a welcoming display helping other traders.”

Blackburn with Darwen Council leader Mike Lee said the cash would be a temporary solution until the borough had got through the worst of the recession.

He said: “Money like this is always welcome and it is especially handy at a time like this to improve the town.

“There are quite a few empty shops in Blackburn town centre at the moment and they don’t help but I think every town has the same issue.

“We have already made use of some empty units and we will continue to do so to make a better experience for people visiting Blackburn.”

He said the long-awaited completion of the Mall shopping centre, expected next summer, would help to bring in more investment.

Ministers at the Department for Communities and Local Government doled out £3million to 57 of the most deprived boroughs in the country.

Communities Secretary John Denham said: “There is no need to see unused shops on our high streets going to waste, especially when we know that it doesn’t take a lot to turn a vacant shop into something beneficial for the community.”