Nottinghamshire towns to be regenerated with £20m levelling up cash

Worksop town centre is one of the areas to get funding to improve access and cut anti-social behaviour

Part of Nottinghamshire will get £20m to help regenerate local towns, it has been announced.

Educational and health services in Bassetlaw will benefit from the government's latest round of levelling up funding.

Some of the projects in the area include the revamp of vacant buildings, which has been awarded £14m, and the £1m refurb of Retford Town Hall.

The government says 20 areas will benefit from £400m of funding.

In Bassetlaw, part of the cash will go into redeveloping old print rooms in Worksop, a vacant retail unit in Priory Shopping centre and a derelict site in Harworth and Bircotes.

It is hoped this will help create a new education centre, NHS health and wellbeing centre, and community hub.

Retford, Worksop and Tuxford town centres will share £3m to improve access and tackle anti-social behaviour.

Worksop will also receive £1.5m to renovate derelict land at Manton and create a community farm shop.

Retford's Town Hall is to be repurposed into a new community space, including a banking hub, with the town's Manton children's centre getting £150,000 for use as a family hub.

'More life chances'

There will also be more than £100,000 to support Bassetlaw's outreach work in preparation for the arrival of a prototype nuclear fusion plant at West Burton.

Bassetlaw District Council said it had worked closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to identify projects most in need.

James Naish, Labour leader of Bassetlaw District Council, said: "This £20m investment through the Levelling Up Partnership will help to propel change and generate more life chances and opportunities for residents of all ages across Bassetlaw.

"Among the eight confirmed projects, there are schemes in Tuxford, and Harworth and Bircotes, as well as Retford and Worksop, all of which contributes to delivering the council's vision for Bassetlaw as a whole to become an even better place to live, work and do business."