Delight as towns get cash boost to transform borough

'LEFT behind' Nuneaton and Bedworth has received a £1.5m windfall to transform the borough.

- By CLAIRE HARRISON

It comes from The Pride in Place fund, which the government says has been set up to help areas that need new life breathing into them.

It has to be spent within two years and comes with a raft of new powers available to the community and the council.

This includes seizing boarded-up shops, creating new spaces for young people, saving derelict pubs and libraries, and blocking fake barbershops and vape shops on the high street.

We have asked the borough council about how the cash will be accessed and what it can be spent on.

Under the Pride in Place programme, the new list of powers are:

■Community Right to Buy: local people will have the power to buy beloved assets, helping them turn around derelict pubs, create new parks, and regenerate treasured spaces in the heart of their communities.