The coastal town that's limbering up to help fight World War Three

At first sight, Barrow-in-Furness might not strike you as a place that Vladimir Putin and Britain's enemies would fear. Take a stroll past a row of empty shop units in Portland Walk and it seems like any other UK coastal town fighting for its place in a modern world where Amazon deliveries and internet shopping are a way of life.

- By Andrew Papworth

Barrow has struggled for years with social decline, despite being home to the BAE shipyard that builds Britain's nuclear submarines. Now a remarkable £220million project aims to transform the remote port town and attract a new workforce Barrow to ensure it is ready to support the fight against Putin, with the whole fabric of Barrow being reexamined from housing, transport and education to the look and feel of the town centre.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has even dubbed the regeneration a "blueprint" for what should happen nationwide as empty shop units are filled and a new university campus is opened.

Peter Anstiss, chief executive of Team Barrow, which is leading the 10-year transformation, says the town is "the only place you can build attack-class submarines or nuclear submarines in the UK" making it "absolutely pivotal for UK defence". He adds: "It's a national endeavour that puts pretty big demands not just on the defence infrastructure of the town but also on the social infrastructure.

"Our job is to, on the one hand, support the national endeavour to make sure the submarines are built because Barrow has well-qualified people living and working here. But I think we've got an obligation to go way beyond that to support the Barrovian families who have lived here through thick and thin, to make sure they're not left behind with all this investment going into defence."

The first move has been for BAE to turn a row of empty shops blighting Portland Walk into an incredible new superhub with shared offices, called The Bridge. A former WHSmith has already been transformed. It will be followed by a training centre for BAE workers at the shuttered Debenhams next door.

Ms Garner says the firm made an "investment decision that meant we would put footfall back through the town centre and start to act as a catalyst for the changes required in this particular area".