A number of retail districts in Wirral are to benefit from a ‘big clean up’ in a £50,000 initiative announced by Wirral Council. Tony McDonough reports

Wirral Council is to spend more than £50,000 on a ‘big clean up’ of a number of shopping districts across the borough.

Prenton, Bromborough and Birkenhead are the first in a number of areas to benefit from the initiative as the council utilises dedicated funding to improve the look of local shopping spaces.

More than £50,000 secured from the Government’s Welcome Back Fund will be spent in the coming weeks on extra street cleaning, graffiti and chewing gum removal and new litter bins.

Work has started in Bromborough Village, Woodchurch Road in Prenton, Borough Road in Birkenhead and will be followed by parts of Wallasey Village, Birkenhead, Seacombe, Upton and Moreton over the coming weeks. The next phase of the project will include the installation of new benches and planters to further improve the shopping areas.

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Cllr Janette Williamson, Leader of Wirral Council, said: “We are doing all we can to make the most of grant funding to make our retail areas even better places to visit. Through this project we can put extra resources into keeping the areas where we live, and do our shopping, clean and tidy – which is just the start.

“Following the clean-ups we’re using the remaining funding to provide planters that will bring more colour and life to built-up areas as well as helping to clean the air and reduce pollution.”

Welcome Back Fund monies must be used against a set of criteria, to help support local High Streets to operate safely following COVID-19. Funding for the project has been secured through the European Regional Development Fund.