TRADERS in Burnley could be asked to pay a levy on their rates to fund town centre improvements, it was revealed today.

Under the scheme, businesses would be asked to pay a levy of at least one per cent on the rateable value of their property to fund a Business Improvement District.

The cash raised from the scheme around £150,000 would be used to pay for cleaning, removal of graffiti, CCTV, improved signs and security patrols.

The idea, which traders will vote on next year, was welcomed by business leaders.

Business Improvement Districts were piloted in the USA but are now taking off in the UK with almost 30 towns and cities, including Liverpool and Blackpool, introducing them.

One of the pilot areas was New York's Times Square which before 1992 was a no-go' area and a magnet for prostitution, street crime and drug-trafficking. Within seven years of the BID being set up, crime fell by almost 59 per cent and illegal goods peddling fell by 37 per cent and the area is back on the tourist trail.

Burnley's BID will cover the area of the town centre inside the inner ring roads of Centenary Way, Queen's Lancashire Way, Active Way and Church Street.

For the scheme to become a reality, a majority of businesses have to vote for it.

If the scheme is passed, all businesses will pay the levy regardless of how they voted.

Under a one per cent levy, a business with a rateable value of £8,000 would pay £80 a year or £1.54 a week and one with a value of £200,000 would pay £2,000 a year or £38.46 a week.

Town Centre manager Lisa Durkin said: "This would be a collaboration of businesses working together to improve the town centre.

"If we do nothing then Burnley is likely to enter a period of decline with shoppers choosing to go elsewhere."

Paula Riley, of the Chiropody Clinic in Curzon Street, said: "This sounds like a good scheme as long as it is by the people of Burnley and for the people of Burnley, I would be in favour."